Look For The Dark
by Merrybeans
Summary: Things never worked out between Alanna & Jon.What if signs of the same relationship began to spring up between their children?Would they have the same problems?Would there be a 3rd heart involved?Or could they make work what their parents couldn't?
1. Chapter One

Stolen Lives

Part One: Look For The Dark (When There Is Light)

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Author: Merry of Masbolle 

_Rating: Pg-13 for now, I suppose._

_Theme: Romance/ Mystery/ Adventure_

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_Summary: This is actually a very hard story to come up with a summary without giving everything away. Alianne is the daughter of Alanna and George. She blossomed as she grew up in a happy childhood. Although often faced with the possibility of death to someone she loved dearly, she was always faced with love. Yet, she never felt she had that spot in life or a certain future. She was always competing for things that didn't matter to her. At the age of ten, her twin brother left for the palace to train as a knight. Her other brother, Thom, was at the City of the Gods. Desperate to find her niche in life, she left home. Eight years later, she returns to Corus, believing she has found what she set out to look for. But when she returns, things have changed and she's no longer so sure of herself and those around her. Someone in particular elicits curiosity in her and she is determined to find out everything she can about him. Yet she has no idea how intensely the information she learns will affect her... in everything she does. When forced to make a choice, what will she choose: herself, or her realm? And how is her fate similar to her mother's? How is Alianne's future twisted into the events of Alanna's past?_

_Author's Note: Ok. This is the first chapter of my long-awaited (not) Alianne fic. Originally, I was going to base this story on what I've heard about _Trickster's Choice_ but the plot just grew and grew, expanding and developing over time as it continually sizzled at the back of my mind, inspired by the oddest things. Eventually I had to write the plan down, and I'm still_ writing it! What was going to be a fic about the length of _Moving On__ with a possible opening for a sequel has turned into a trilogy:- _

_Part One: Look For The Dark (When There Is Light)_

_Part Two: Capture The Memory_

_Part Three: Song Of The Sea, Life Of The Stars (iffy title)._

_And now, I'm afraid, my fic is hardly anything like _Trickster's Choice._ Hopefully, its much better. Lol, just kidding! _

_I'm afraid the first chapter might be a bit boring because I've had to start introducing people and setting the scene. I'd like to say now that my aim is to post a chapter a month BUT this does mean that (hopefully) the chapters will be longish (say, the length of this chapter as a rough guideline- and this chapter is a long first chapter for me!)._

_Oh, by the way, I actually prefer "Ali" to "Aly" but TP uses the second apparently, so I decided to stick with that. I've tried to work out ages as best as I can and if you want me to post a list of character ages please say in a review and I'll pop it on the next chapter. This starts off three years after _Lady Knight_. _

_Oh, and another thing- we never really learnt that much about any of Alanna's children in the books and we only met the eldest two of Jon's children so I've made them into the people I want them to be for the purposes of this fic. I'm sorry of this offends anyone. And I don't know if Gary ever actually had children- again, TP never mentioned it (or I missed it if she did)- but for _Stolen Lives_ he has two- a son and a daughter (and if you can't remember, he's married to Lady Cythera. At least, I think that's right). _

_It's pure coincidence that the Copper Isles features so highly in both _Moving On_ and_ Stolen Lives_ and the two fics do not cross over in anyway._

_I would also like to point out that I have only ever read one Alianne fic and I think that was before I even posted the first chapter of _Moving On_. I only read something like three/four chapters of this particular fic anyway. So I would like to say that all these ideas are mine and if any author has previously wrote an Aly fic with the same plot line as mine (at which I would be very surprised) then I am terribly terribly sorry and I have not consciously copied you. _

_With regards to characters seen in the SotL, I and PotS books, (i.e. Alanna, George, Jon, Gary, Raoul, Thayet, Buri, Daine, Numair, Harailt, Lindhall, Kel, Neal, Dom, etc etc) you will be seeing them a little bit (some more than others) but this fic is firstly and foremost a fic about Alianne. For example, this chapter focuses on Aly, Prince Jasson and Princess Kalasin but Kel, Neal, Alanna, George, Alan, Thom, Raoul and Buri are among some of those others mentioned. _

_Disclaimer: Anything at all that you recognise does not belong to me, but Tamora Pierce. I do not pretend to own her work. However, I do own the plot, Dartonian, the Black Falcon, Reon and any other thing, person, or place you don't recognise. This applies to the whole of _Stolen Lives_._

_Dedication: I would like to dedicate this first chapter to those people I have gained the most of my inspiration from: Tamora Pierce (oddly enough), Daphne du Maurier for her book _Frenchman's Creek_ (my absolute most favourite book ever), Robin Hood, Juliet Marillier for her band of loveable outlaws in Son of the Shadows_, Baroness Orczy for inspiration in disguises (from the _Scarlet Pimpernel__), James Horner for his inspiring music scores to both Titanic _and _The Mask Of Zorro_ and Dana Glover for her song _It Is You (I Have Loved)__ which truly sums up Stolen Lives __but which I didn't discover until a few days ago. I would also like to thank Kerm for that chat on at the bus stop and on the bus, Lauziek for beta-ing (which she hasn't quite got round to in time…) and Vanessa and Courtney for their encouraging feedback before this was posted._

_While I'm here, I'd just like to talk about _Moving On_ quickly. Yes, I am still writing it. I've actually just done the unthinkable and asked one of my absolute closest friends (who is, like, a BRILLIANT author) to have a look at it because I'm so stuck with it. If she got the email in time (which I think she did) then she's taken it on holidays with her and as soon as she's back, I know she'll be able to tell me exactly where I need to improve it (i.e. everywhere) and I'll be back on track. My target was to get Moving On__ finished before August (when I go on holidays) but that's not being very realistic. But maybe- there's only two chapters left. But big apologies for taking so long. SORRY!!!_

Stolen Lives

Part One: Look For The Dark (When There Is Light)

Chapter One: An Ocean Of Memories

The year was 463, the twenty-fourth year of the reign of King Jonathan III and his queen, Thayet. Their large court was well known through out the Eastern and Southern Realms and many established nobles travelled to Tortall to pay their respects to the unconventional monarchs. The palace was also always full of native Tortallans of varying livelihoods. Most of the palace's inhabitants, be they a foreign or a local, lived for the court gatherings, the gossip that came from these and the challenges of keeping a clean reputation while committing the dirty crimes of getting a particular spouse. 

Therefore at today's court ball, it was no surprise to see nearly all the attendants smiling, dancing and chatting animatedly. Not everyone was of the same state of mind however, and the young lady with flowing red hair currently coming down one of the lesser staircases, unannounced, into the room was not particularly looking forward to this evening. 

Her hand gently grazed the polished banister as she glided down the staircase. That hand was trained to hold weapons- not ladies fans. The skin was deeply tanned from all the time she spent outside and was not particularly smooth. A scar ran across the top of her hand - a soft, pink band against the rough olive. The nails, though perfectly clean, were not painted or decorated as every other woman's in the room were.

She stepped off of the last stair and moved a few paces into the crowds of courtiers to try and merge in with everybody else. Her skirts- cream and pale blue- swished irritatingly around her legs as she walked, and a frown of annoyance crossed her forehead.

'_Aly! There you are!'_

The frown left her face as Alianne turned around to face the speaker. Aly smiled at the striking young woman who stood in front of her, noticing how her beauty actually radiated from her form.

'Kalasin- how good to see you again! It's been so long!' Alianne moved closer to the eldest Princess.

Princess Kalasin grabbed her friend's hands in her dainty, pale manicured ones. 'Aly, my dear, we absolutely must go and chat- never mind the court or anyone else.' She began to drag the younger woman over to a window seat. 'Oh, you're right- it's been so long! Too long. Aly, I must insist that you never stay away from the palace for any length of time like that again. Do you promise?'

They had reached the window seat and Alianne, daughter of Baron and Baroness of Pirate's Swoop, sunk gratefully into the plush red cushions. She looked up at the woman before her and wondered at the change that had taken over her friend. The Kally she had known would not have behaved in such a pompous or demanding manner; the Princess had always wanted to grow up like any other common Tortallan girl. 

'Kally,' Aly began. 'Now that I have my title, now that I'm free to do as I please, I'm hardly going to stay put forever. You knew that ever since a child, I wanted to travel. Now I can do that. I will visit you often- you know that, but I cannot promise to stay here for great lengths of time. It would be… against my character.'

With a sigh, Kalasin flopped down next to Alianne. 'How come after all these years you're still the one that's always right?'

Aly laughed. 'Because I'm better than you, remember?'

'Oh yes, how could I forget?' teased the Princess. 'But you better watch yourself, young lady - do you realise you're talking to the Royal Princess?'

'You've hardly changed at all, Kally,' grinned Alianne, deciding that her earlier suspicions were false- a momentary fluke in the Princess's demeanour.

'I'll take that as a compliment, old friend. Now you must tell me everything about yourself and everything you've done since I last saw you which was absolutely ages ago!'

'Yeah, just about eight years, Princess dear,' smirked Aly. 'Where to start...' How could she even begin to recap the last eight years of her life? 'Well, when I left home, I -- ' She was cut off by a young man, bowing low.

'Excuse me, your Highness,' he said in a voice that reminded Aly of warm honey dripping over hot coals. 'But the dancing is beginning and I wondered if I could dare to hope to be so honoured with your hand.'

Aly rolled her eyes- what an idiot! Didn't he realise that anyone could see through that ridiculous act? She was about to ignore him and continue talking to Kally when she realised the Princess was actually accepting his offer! Aly stared, nearly open mouthed, as Kalasin rose gracefully and rested her hand on his proffered arm. A fake, well-educated blush gently grazed her powered cheeks and she spoke nonsense to him in her silky yet powerful voice as they wandered over to the dance floor, without a backward glance at Alianne.

_Well, thought Aly, _so much for not changing. The Kalasin I knew would never have ignored her friend for some creep of a courtier who -- __

'Copper for your thoughts?'

Aly jumped and turned to the youngest of the Royal children, Prince Jasson. Like all his siblings, he had the sleek black hair and the sapphire eyes that signified a Conté. Aly smiled at the young man, one year younger than her.

'Are all the Conté children going to seek me out tonight?' she asked with a grin. 'If so, I think I might retire early.'

'Well eight years is a long time and you have been deservedly missed,' he replied in his smooth voice.

She laughed, and he joined in. To her surprise the young prince swept her into his arms for a bone-crushing hug. Jasson had always been the closest of the Conté's to Aly during their childhood but she guessed the show of emotion in front of the court was hardly acceptable even for good friends.

'Oh, so you really did miss me then,' she said in answer to his embrace.

'No, not at all, I just felt like leading you on.' His blue eyes danced wildly with mirth.

'Well at least _you_ haven't changed,' Aly mumbled.

'Aah- yes, I saw you talking to Kally. She has become a bit of a problem.' At Alianne's raised eyebrows, he added, 'Well for Anne and me anyway. Anne as in Princess Lianne,' he hastily put as an after thought.

'I'm not stupid, Jas. You think I'd forget all our nicknames for each other? Crooked God, it was only eight years!'

Jasson faced her off with an icy-blue stare. 'Well who's to say you'd remember us?'

'Prince Jasson Raoul of Conté,' hissed Alianne, each word carefully controlled. 'I grew up with you spoilt Royals- _ten years_- all my childhood. Do not insult me so.'

'We're not _that_ spoilt,' grumbled Jasson, his eyes downcast and for a fleeting moment Aly thought how adorable he looked like that. She shook the thought away but couldn't help but muse that he would probably be capable of heart-wrenching puppy dog eyes. (?)

'You think so?' Aly replied. She grunted in answer to her own question. 'Anyway, you were going to tell me about Kally.'

'Oh, yeah. Right.' Jasson collected his thoughts together with a deep intake of breath. 'Well, you know how she always wanted to be like your Ma? You know, be a lady knight?' Alianne nodded. 'That was still her dream by the time she was old enough to become a page. But Father wouldn't let her. I don't know why - he never gave her a proper reason. Maybe he was afraid she would remind him too much of your Ma.' Jasson shrugged. 'For whatever reason, he said "no". At first Kalasin was devastated, as you can well imagine. But it didn't take long before she was back on her feet. She never even put up that much of a fight.

'From then on she changed.' He sighed, and gazed across the room at his eldest sister. 'She became more feminine- delighting in things like dancing and sewing and the latest fashion. Her new past time was walking through the gardens with her ladies, talking the hind legs off a donkey. She became, I suppose, a stereotypical princess.

'But the change in Kally had other effects too. Lianne changed. It was almost like they swapped roles. You remember how Anne always used to be the girly one as children?'

Alianne nodded, a grin passing over her face at happy memories. 

'Well as Kalasin became more feminine, Anne became less so- but more subtly. And she was clever too- she didn't set her heights too high only to be knocked back to the ground. She told Father that she was willing to serve her realm in every way she could and to do so, she wanted to be trained in the skill of archery. Now how clever is that? She would get her fair share of battle but for her parents' peace of mind, she was at a less risk because she would only be fighting from long distance. And archer's protection is improving nowadays. Special chain mail shirts are being produced that are specifically designed with archers in mind.

'Anyway, I welcome with open arms the new Anne but Kally's a different matter. She doesn't like to talk to us much anymore- after all, we're just the young ones and what can we really do to help, as she so frequently reminds us. She calls court functions and orders us to come, taking away the little spare time we have. She gets us into trouble with Ma and Pa for trivial things that she blows miles out of proportion. She even orders clothes to be made for us for particular excursions without first asking our opinions. And now with the Princes'--'

'Princes?' interrupted Alianne.

'Oh,' Jasson replied with a grimace. 'I thought you would have heard- they're looking for a suitor for Kally.'

'Yes, well I had but I didn't think anything was actually going to come of it.' Aly frowned. 'I mean, she always would have renounced an arranged marriage.'

'Key words there: "would have". She's revelling in the attention she's getting, basking in the confidence she feels in herself and _here she comes right now!' Jasson finished the last in a hurry, having chanced to turn and see the topic of conversation getting considerably closer. The Prince pasted a smile across his handsome face; Aly didn't bother._

'Jasson!' exclaimed Kalasin. 'How nice to see you actually talking to a young lady for once! Do you know, Aly dearest, that we have so much trouble getting him on the dance floor. It's unbelievable, you know--'

'You completely ignored me,' Alianne interrupted. Her voice was devoid of emotion but her eyes had begun to blaze.

'What dear?'

'When that- that _courtier_ came to you, you totally blocked me out to pay attention to him instead. It was like I had never existed. You could have at least excused yourself from me or apologised. That's not too much to ask, is it "old friend"?'

'Aah, I see what's going on here,' answered the Princess softly. 'Aly, get used to it, dear- I'm the Princess. I'm better than you. I don't have to apologise to you because men want to dance with _me. _I understand your jealousy dear, just please try and control it in future.' With a sickly smile and a flutter of her hand, Princess Kalasin swept off, a vision of silk, jewels and perfume.

'See what I mean?' quietly said Jasson, taking a sip of his wine. 'She believes she's the best now, no-one's better than her. She thinks she can boss people about and degrade them as if they have no feelings at all.'

Alianne was practically fuming. 'I think I need to hit something,' she hissed through gritted teeth.

Jasson put his goblet down on the windowsill. 'No, you just need to calm down. Come dance with me.'

Aly snorted. 'Well you really know how to charm a girl.'

'Come on, Aly. It will make you feel more relaxed,' tried Jasson.

'I don't dance,' she growled.

'Sure you do. Just as well as I do, at any rate.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Aly's eyes narrowed with suspicion as she looked at him sidelong.

'You heard Kally--' Jasson put on a high, squeaky voice-- ' "We have so much trouble getting him on the dance floor".'

Aly smiled slightly but her anger was still there, bubbling just below the surface. 'That was a pretty bad impression, Jas.'

'But it worked- it made you smile,' he replied. 'Oh, come on Aly, one little dance. Its hardly going to harm, is it?'

'It might harm _you_ if I make a fool of myself,' she muttered under her breath.

'Go on Alianne- one more time for old time's sake?' he pleaded. 'Remember? As kids we used to dance out in the gardens when we could hear our parents in the ball room.'

'And now we're standing here along side them,' she sighed, taking a gulp of wine. 'But then we were kids and we were alone and being silly,' she addressed Jasson.

He shrugged. 'So? Let it be like that now then. We're only mucking around now- only picking fun at the courtiers and our parents like we did eight years ago. We're still young and no-one's going to pay us all that much attention.'

She glared at him; then with a sigh, her scowl disintegrated into a small smile and a shake of her head. 'You are terrible. You're even more determined than I am. Well, its a good thing I'm not particularly resolved on this topic or we could be here all night. Come on then, let's get this over with.' And with that, she marched onto the dance floor, not waiting for him.

He grinned and began to follow her. 'That's my girl,' he commented wickedly and she hit him lightly over his head. She was nearly as tall as him- height genes were one thing she hadn't inherited from her mother. With a mocking "ouch", Jasson took Aly in his arms and began to whisk her expertly around the room.

'I thought you said you couldn't dance,' she demanded calmly. 

'Well, that's what I'm so often told,' he retaliated.

'By who? Kalasin? Because I might be a bit inexperienced but I would say you were very good.'

'Why thank you. You're not bad yourself.'

She snorted. 'Hardly. But it was nice of you to say so.' Aly glanced briefly at the other couples on the dance floor. She smiled at the sight of a particular couple; Jasson followed her gaze.

'Ah- the Giant Killer and his wife,' he said, watching Raoul and Buri on the edge of the dance floor. 'They're an odd couple, aren't they? You're lucky to have seen them anywhere within ten feet of the dance floor, actually.'

'So marriage hasn't cured Uncle Raoul's aversion of social activities?' inquired Aly.

'As much as it did for your mother.'

Alianne chuckled and looked over other couples. She frowned. 'What's the deal with Keladry and Nealan?' she asked Jas quietly. 'I thought Neal was engaged to some Yamani lady.' She nodded in the general direction of the pair. Jasson looked their way; the two were wrapped so tightly in each other's arms, you could barely see the air between them. Jasson smiled.

'Ah- young love.' He laughed. 'Yes,' Jas sighed and lowered his voice. 'Neal was engaged to a Yamani- her name was Yuki. But a few months before the wedding, Yuki abruptly ended the relationship. Neal was absolutely devastated. I think he even made himself ill for a while due to emotional stress. Anyway, he went after Yuki and found her body just off the Lesser Road North. She had been brutally attacked by a group of Scanrans that had escaped from a local holding of war prisoners. She was barely still alive when he found her. She spoke to Neal- apologised, said she had always loved him but had also loved another. She had been seeing this other man secretly for years- long before she came here even. He was an old friend of her family and a native Yamani. She had broken up with Neal to return to him permanently. Neal tried to heal her, promising to let her return to her other love once she was well but she died on the side of the road. 

'Neal was wracked with grief. For months he wandered around like a ghost. Kel spent time with him every day, just trying to get him through the pain. Slowly he recovered. As he did, he became closer to Kel.' Jasson shrugged. 'And you can guess the rest yourself.'

'And all of this is common knowledge?' remarked Alianne sceptically.

'Of course not. I only know because of Roald being close with both Kel and Neal. And his wife being close with Yuki.'

'Oh.' Alianne watched the knights for a bit longer. 'Well at least they're happy together.'

'Since Yuki's death, Neal has done a lot of work on prisoner holdings, reforming them and reinforcing their guards. Hardly anyone has escaped since he made his changes.'

'Well something productive came out of her death,' mused Aly. 'Does Kel mind?'

'No,' replied Jasson with a shake of his head. 'Remember, Yuki was her friend too. She was cross that Yuki had been cheating on Neal all that time, but sees Neal's work as respect for her death and the great memories they have of the Yamani. Kel's even helped from time to time when she hasn't been too busy commanding forts and war camps and such.'

'Oh, so she does a lot of commanding work then?'

'Yeah- people like Lord Wyldon and Lord Raoul realised that she had the potential for being a great commander. As commanders are so vital yet so hard to come by, they have made sure she almost always has some kind of commanding work. She works a lot with the King's Own- in particular Lord Raoul and Neal's cousin, Sergeant Domitan.'

'Yes, I think I've heard of him,' she muttered as they whirled over the floor. For a while, neither spoke yet instead of watching other people, they watched each other. They had no idea that Queen Thayet and her husband were watching them.

'So Mister Know-It-All,' teased Alianne. 'Do you know when my family are getting here?'

'Well, Miss Idiot,' he jested back. 'Your brother is actually here.'

'Alan?' she asked, surprised.

'Yep- he's to take his accolade in a few months.'

'Of course! What about you? When's your Ordeal?'

'Oh, not until next year. Father did consider making me take it a year early but didn't see any particular advantage by it and guessed the extra year of training wouldn't do me any harm. The rest of your family- Alanna, George and Thom- should be arriving tomorrow. They'll be pleasantly cross I think, they were hoping to get here before you.'

Alianne laughed. 'That's just like Pa. So you make it your business to know the ins and outs of every one in court, do you?'

Jasson chuckled at her insinuation. 'No but if you'll remember I'm a year younger than Alan. Since we grew up together and got knight masters who are friends, we've spent most of these last eight years together. He kept reminding me of both your arrival and your family's. Like I could forget.'

'Tomorrow I must go and see Alan. Any ideas where I might find him?'

'Hanging around the practice courts usually. Oh Gods, here comes Kally with one of her darn Princes!'

'Prince Jasson- watch your language around females!' teased Alianne. 

'Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think such a masculine female mattered.' His eyes danced and she stood on his foot. But before he could react or retaliate, the Princess had reached him, trailing a Prince behind her like a dog.

Kalasin put her hand on Aly's arm, pulling her away from Prince Jasson slightly. 'Alianne, dear, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. Prince William, this is Alianne of Pirate's Swoop and an old friend of mine. Alianne, this is Prince William of Maren.'

Prince William, a thin, sickly looking man, snatched up Aly's hand and bent low over it. 'I'm honoured.'

Alianne had never felt more uncomfortable; she wanted to pull her hand out of his but knew this would be rude. She didn't know what to say to him either. Noticing Jasson stood slightly to the side, not introduced, she said, 'Have you met Prince Jasson of Tortall?'

At hearing his name, Jasson looked up, surprise etched in his features. At Alianne's beckoning fingers, he came to her side, ignoring his sister's ugly looks of disapproval. The arrival of this new Prince made Prince William drop Alianne's hand in haste.

'Prince Jasson, Prince William; Prince William, Prince Jasson,' introduced Alianne. 'Prince Jasson is Princess Kalasin's youngest brother, Prince William. Have you met before?'

'No,' replied Prince Jasson since Prince William seemed unwilling to talk. 'No, we have not met before but I have seen Prince William about and heard of him.'

'So, Alianne,' said William, completely ignoring Jas. 'To what do we owe the honour of you gracing the halls of Corus?'

Alianne looked disdainfully at him. Was it a rule that all courtiers had to speak so ridiculously? 'Family,' she replied calmly.

Just then, another young man joined their party. He gave Aly, Jas and William quick glances before turning to the Princess and asking for her partnership in the next round of dances. Seeing Kalasin disappear with this new Prince, Prince William glared at those around him. 

Jasson took hold of Alianne's arm. 'Excuse me,' he said to Prince William. 'But we would like to continue our dance.' And with a short bob of his head, he pulled Alianne away to a different part of the dance floor.

'Well wasn't he nice,' muttered Aly as Jasson spun her around in his arms again.

He chuckled. 'As pleasant as always. Competition is a vital part of life between these Princes. If the Princess shows you one of her friends, show interest in her friend but not more interest than that which you show in the Princess herself. And never allow another Prince to take the Princess's attention when you are addressing her friend. Dear Prince William failed and he knows it.'

'If those are the kind of things you have to keep in mind I am so glad I am not royal.'

Prince Jasson laughed heartily. 'Oh but as a Royal you are the centre of attention, dear friend.'

'But is that always a good thing?' she asked, a wicked grin forming.

He grinned back. 'Not if you take a more than friendly interest in the wrong woman.'

'And what, by definition, would be the wrong woman?'

'Lets see... someone who isn't Royal, or of noble birth or noble livelihood. Someone like... _you_.' He laughed mischievously.

'But I'm of noble birth. Well, more or less.'

'Ah- but not of noble livelihood.'

'So how come you're risking your reputation by dancing with me?' she retorted.

The music swirled around them, spreading wildly on the breeze whisking through the windows. Her skirts swished gracefully as Prince Jasson glided her across the room, pulling Alianne closer to his chest. 

'Maybe,' he replied after a moment's pause, 'Maybe as the youngest of the Royal children, I don't feel I need to worry so much about my reputation.'

Alianne only raised her eyebrows in response to this, and their conversation ebbed as the musicians reached their height. However, the lack of communication was not uncomfortable and both reflected on childhood memories of times spent together. As soon as the dance finished, Jasson led Alianne out onto a star-lit balcony, passing her a goblet of wine.

Taking a sip of the drink, Aly cast her mind back over the night's conversation. The Prince joined her in leaning against the balcony's railings. For a while the relaxed silence continued, until suddenly Alianne remembered something she had meant to ask Jasson about.

'You remember you said Thom was travelling up with my parents and should be here tomorrow?' Jasson nodded, his eyes still caught by the sparkling stars. 'Is he coming from home- from Pirate's Swoop?'

Jasson shrugged. 'I suppose so,' he commented lazily, barely looking her way.

'I don't quite understand- has he already left the City of the Gods?' she frowned slightly, trying to make the connections in her head work.

The Prince looked at her bemusedly. 'You really had no connections with your family while you were training, did you? Thom qualified as a Master eight months ago. He's been hanging around your mother, apparently. But he's coming to stay here- he's going to do some extra training while working with Master Numair and the Dean of the Royal University- Harailt of Aili. Or so Alan tells me.'

'He passed the Mastery examinations when he was 19?' Aly squeaked.

'Yes- apparently just a year older than your uncle.' Alianne nodded, still shocked at her brother's actions. 'Alan said Thom wrote he had done something wild with his hair as a celebration but he won't tell Alan what. Wants it to be a surprise. I think your mother had a fit though.'

Alianne snorted. 'Sounds about right.' She took a large gulp of wine. 'So Alan hasn't seen Thom since he became a Master either?'

'No, your twin was off gallivanting with his knight master and has only recently returned to the palace.'

'Well at least that makes me feel a bit better,' muttered Aly. 'So is there any other news I should know about?'

'Umm... not as far as I can think off. Oh, yes- Anelise has been staying at Pirate's Swoop as well. She, of course, heard about your return and asked me to tell you that she will be here as soon as she can but she has to return briefly to Naxen.'

'What was Anelise doing at Pirate's Swoop? Shouldn't she be here at court?'

'Well technically yes, but her father- Gareth the Younger of--'

'I know who her father is, Jas,' interrupted Aly.

'Well he let her visit Thom on a short respite from court.'

'And how long has this "short respite" lasted?'

'Oh, all of five and a half months,' grinned Jasson.

'Oh, so not long then. And dare I inquire what she and Thom have been getting up to all this time?'

Jasson laughed as he took a gulp of wine, nearly spraying the liquid everywhere. 'I think you'd do better to wait until tomorrow and ask your dear brother himself.'

'Hmm, so do I.'

The doors behind them opened and a young black-haired, blue-eyed man burst onto the balcony, closely followed by a similarly looking female and the noise of the ball. Alianne and Jasson jumped round in surprise, immediately springing into defensive positions. Jasson recognised his siblings and promptly relaxed.

'Jasson!' cried the male, 'How dare you keep Aly all to yourself?!' He turned his head to the red-haired, smiling woman. 'I may still call you Aly, right?'

'Of course, Liam,' replied Alianne with a laugh as she made her way towards him. 'How are you?'

'I'm much the better for seeing at least _one_ of you mischievous red-heads.'

'Anne!' cried out Alianne as she recognised the young woman standing behind Liam. 'Come here! How are you?'

'Oh, Aly- its been so hard with Kalasin,' moaned the Princess, a year Aly's elder. 'And I've missed you so much.' The two young women hugged.

'How come I don't get a hug?' demanded Liam. 'Don't I sweep you off your feet, Lady Alianne?'

Aly and Lianne laughed. 'Not particularly, Li. Have you become over confident with women now that you have that splendidly shaped beard of yours?'

'Hey- don't degrade the beard!' cried Liam. 'The young women in court like it very much.' He smoothed his fingers over his black beard. Aly laughed again.

'Oh Liam, you always were the one to try and impress the girls.'

'I don't need to try, Aly- they're impressed enough by my reputation and appearance.'

'As anyone told you how big a head you have?' dryly commented Alianne.

'Yes- these two. Repeatedly.' Liam nodded at his younger siblings; they grinned.

'Yet you take no heed of their words?'

'Of course not- they're younger than me,' he teased. 'Anyway-- ' he swept Aly up into a brief hug-- 'I have to go now. Things to do, people to talk with, girls to impress. See you all later.' And with a wave of his hand he had disappeared back into the crowds of courtiers. Anne shut the balcony doors behind her brother.

'So what have you two been doing out here, or don't I want to know?' inquired Lianne.

'I've been filling our dear friend in on everything she's missed,' replied Jas, ignoring his sister's insinuation. 

'Like what?'

'Like the lives of her brothers, the lives of particular courtiers, the changes in particular members of the Royal family.'

'Oh, so he'll have bragged to you about how masculine I've become then, Aly,' said Lianne, leaning against the wall. 

Aly smiled. 'I don't quite think bragged is the right word, more like "mentioned". He tended more to moan about the changes in his other sister.'

'Well, you know Jasson, likes to concentrate on the negative things in life. Anyway, I came here to get you Jas. Father said something about some foreign courtier or ambassador wanting to speak to all the Royal children. Sorry, Aly, I'm going to have to rid you of company. Come and see me tomorrow some time- we can have some fun then.'

'Sure, Anne,' replied Alanna's daughter. 

'Tomorrow then,' Lianne said with a grin. Grabbing her brother's arm, she dragged him back into the ballroom. 

Alone, Alianne quietly closed the doors before once again leaning against the railings. It had been a long day and an even longer evening. Her friends had all subtly changed and she wasn't yet sure if it was all for the best. She was immensely tired and couldn't understand how so many people spent hours socialising like this, day in, day out. True, she had learned a lot tonight but surely that was only because of her eight-year absence? 

Aly looked around. She was completely alone; nobody was near. Surely, she could slip off to her room now and not be noticed? She really needed to get some sleep and she wasn't doing anything productive here. Her mind made up, Alianne slipped discreetly back into the ballroom. Sliding along the wall, she soon came across the door that led down into the gardens. Opening the door, she slunk out into the cool night air and breathed a sigh of relief. Her sigh was quickly followed by a yawn and this prompted her to set off on her short walk. 

Passing through the gardens, Alianne saw many couples sharing private moments in the shadows. She wasn't particularly jealous- at eighteen and unhindered from the restrictions of a court life, she had already had plenty of experience with men. Yes, they could bring you an evening of pleasure but that was about as far as she would go in complimenting relationships with a man. She didn't really feel she needed that special someone in her life right now-- she was still finding herself-- and anyway, she knew she hadn't met him yet. That is, if there _was_ a special someone for her. Her Father's words popped into her head: _"someone is always someone else's one"_. Aly smiled at the thought of her Father and a warm feeling filled her chest as she realised she would be seeing all her family the next day.

Flitting through the courtyards and stable yards, she came to a door in the wall, smaller than most of the others. She passed through it and up the stairs beyond it, holding her skirts high and treading softly. Reaching the top of the stairs, she turned right down the corridor and wound her way through similar passageways until she came to the door of her rooms. _It's a good thing I can remember my way around still, she thought as she let herself in. Having spent much time at Corus as a child and being childhood friends with the Royal children, Aly and her brothers had soon picked up the ways of the palace and the ways around it._

Crossing the first room and entering her bedchamber, she sluggishly threw her shoes to a corner by her chest and began to undress. As she pulled the plain and simple white nightgown over her head, she wondered how court ladies could stay in skirts, slippers and corsets _all_ the time. True, she wore them more than her Mother but Alanna was a bit of an exception.

Alianne crawled into bed, yawning loudly. It was hardly late and it wasn't unusual for her to have a hard day so she put the exhaustion down to the reunions she had been forced through. Luckily, there hadn't been that many although it was a bit of a disappointment they were all Contés. With a grin at herself, Aly snuggled down amongst the warm, crisp covers, looking forward to a good night's sleep. It didn't take long before her unusual coloured eyes closed and her breathing shallowed.

Suddenly she was being roughly shaken by her shoulder and a woman was whispering in her ear, but Aly could not make out what she was saying. Slowly Aly sat up. The room she was in was not the room of the palace; it was small, with gaps between wooden beams filled with wattle and daub. The room glowed orange by the light of a few meagre candles and shadows scattered just outside the reach of the candlelight. Unexplainably, fear swelled up in her breast, and while feeling her mouth open, she heard a young boy ask the woman, 'Ma? Ma, what's going on?'

Aly couldn't see the young boy but had a good view of the mother. She was young and pretty and had the copper skin that usually marked a native of the Copper Isles. Her dark glossy hair was swept back into a bun on the back of her head, although a few wisps had escaped. The sleeves of her chemise were rolled up just past her elbows and she re-positioned her shawl irritatingly as it attempted to fall from her shoulders. 

'Come, son,' she said softly. 'We must go now. Hurry- your brother already waits downstairs.'

'But what's happening, Ma? What's wrong? Why do we have to leave?' 

Aly could feel her bare feet move slowly towards the bedroom door, pattering on the wooden floor boards and dried rushes.

'Don't ask so many questions, dear,' said the mother, who grabbed her son's clothes and started ushering him out quicker. 'We haven't got time now. Run downstairs and meet your brother.'

'Where are you going?'

'Nowhere- I'm coming right behind you.'

Aly felt her feet fly down the wooden stairs, her hand reaching unsuccessfully for the simple banister.  She saw a boy, about ten or twelve years old, standing by the front door, a bundle under his arm, fully dressed with shoes on his feet. 

'Why do you always have to take so long?' snapped the older boy, grabbing Alianne's hand as she reached his side. Yanking Aly roughly, he began to drag her out of the cottage. Aly felt herself turning around to look for the young mother. She was at the base of the stairs, trying to stuff spare clothes and food into a few packs. Aly resisted the pull on her arm.

'Mama!' called out the youngest boy. 'Come on Mama!'

'I'm coming, darlin', I'm coming.' The mother picked all the belongings up and scampered after her boys.

'Where's Papa? Are we going to see him? We haven't seen Papa in ages,' asked the young boy again. Aly was walking quickly between the older brother and the mother. The mother looked down at Aly as the brother said frustratingly, 'Oh, not this _again_. How many times do we have to go over this?'

'No sweetheart, you're not going to see Papa,' replied the mother, ignoring her eldest son. 'You won't see Papa again.'

'Ever?' Aly felt her chin tremble and tears grow in her eyes. The mother crouched down in front of Aly.

'Your Father passed to the Black God some time ago, sweetheart. He's gone to a better place. We've been over this before.'

Aly felt tears begin to run down her cheeks and sadness overwhelmed her. The mother threw her arms around Aly and tried to comfort her but at a sudden cry in the distance, the mother jumped back with an anguished gasp. 

'We must go. Now. _Quickly_. If you can carry a few of these packs, I'll carry your brother.' She handed a few worn packs to her eldest son and picked up Aly. Then they began to run, always heading towards the harbour.

Slowly, Alianne opened her eyes and blinked. She was back in her room in the palace- it had only been a dream. She sat up gradually and rubbed her forehead, throwing her hair over her shoulders. That had to be the strangest dream she had ever had. She was actually seeing the dream through the eyes of the little boy, as if it was a memory. She wondered if that was how Seers had visions- through the eyes of someone else. Climbing out of her covers, she walked over to the window and pulled a corner of the gauze and coloured material back so that she could see out. The stars were still out; the sky was still dark. She yawned and looked back at her bed. A couple more hours of sleep sounded good...

Pattering across the floor, she slumped back into bed and lazily fell asleep once more. This time, she wasn't disturbed by any unusual dreams.

~

Please review! I want to know what you think!

_~Merry._


	2. Chapter Two

_A/N:__ Hey! Here's the August chapter and just in time too! I'm afraid this chapter is very long and not particularly interesting but after this the chapters will be slightly shorter. I've had to make these first two chapters so long to bring in all the main characters and develop them enough and tell you enough about their backgrounds and presents to be able to get the story moving. Stick with me—the next chapter starts with a fight!!!_

_Something I forgot to mention in my unbelievably long author's note last time: I've heard that the Copper Isles is supposed to be based on Indonesia but since I know absolutely zilch about Indonesia, the Copper Isles in my fic is just a complete mix of all different nationalities and comes out however I write it. _

_Thanks for all the great reviews!!!_

_Dedication: to Kerm (as usual) for all her help with the Sight and to all the wonderful WLD-ians for being, well… wonderfully mad! Luv ya guys!_

_P.S. When uploading this, I think something went wrong meaning you have to scroll sideways. If it has, I apologise greatly cos I hate that but I'm in a rush (as always). Sorry!_

Stolen Lives

Part One: Look For The Dark (When There Is Light)

Chapter Two: Arrival Of Identities.

The sun stretched its golden fingers and sent streams of pale warmth in every direction. It peeked through the corner of a window where the curtain had not bee pulled back properly after an unsettling dream. Lazily, it curled about the red strands of hair lying against the contrasting white pillow and danced upon the tanned skin of the delicate face of the woman lying there. 

Slowly, the sun's early tendrils woke the woman and for a moment she lay still, letting the light bathe her gently. Then with a small contented sigh, Alianne rose from her slumber-filled state and wound her way towards the window. She was not usually a morning person, a trait she had picked up from her mother yet this morning was an exception, possibly because of the people she would be meeting today, and she threw back her curtains energetically, letting the sunlight flood the room. Briefly she stood with her arms outstretched and her eyes closed. She felt that today would be almost like a new beginning; a new beginning in which she would fit perfectly, just like everyone else. She had no recalls of the dream she had paid witness to last night.

With a sigh that seemed to let out not only the air in her body, but also every negative thought, feeling and urge in her, she went into her dressing and wash room and readied a bath for herself. Sinking into the warm waters, she cast her mind back over the last eighteen years and smiled at how far she had come. Yet the places she had to go to were almost as pleasing. Knowing she now had both feet firmly planted on the correct path, she was willing to let herself sit back and enjoy life more.

Finally she tired of the company of her thoughts and memories, and the water became too cold to be pleasant. Alianne climbed out and dried herself off before proceeding to dress herself. She combed the knots out of her vibrant red hair, slipped her feet into boots and left her rooms.

It was still relatively early and most of the palace was not yet awake. Aly almost felt like an intruder in somebody else's dream. But there was something satisfying about traipsing the corridors while others lay in slumber. _The early bird catches the worm_, Aly thought. _Well this bird isn't looking for worms this morning- only a squire and some Royalty._

She made her way through the palace towards the practice courts, guessing that if the squire she sought- her brother- was up yet, he would most likely be there. If not and the practice courts were empty, she would make sure they were immediately put to use.

Instead of finding squires, pages or empty courts, Alianne met a large group of trainees on the archery court. A mixed bag of females and males of varying ages and nationalities, she knew almost instantly that they were try outs for the Queen's Riders. They began to exercise as Aly reached the fence skirting the practice court and leant lazily against it. The young lady that had been talking to the assembled group and demonstrating with unwavering skill, stepped back to observe. She was 5'6" with unruly brown hair. Aly smiled in recognition: Daine.

Alianne managed to watch the trainees for a few minutes before Daine suddenly looked sharply at her. Daine smiled and beckoned the younger woman over. Aly vaulted the fence and crossed the court, continuing to watch the trainees. They weren't bad- most of them got the arrows somewhere on the target and a few came very close to the bulls eye; those that missed the target were not far off. They were using a range of different bows and arrows, often swapping after a certain amount of practice with each one. 

It was only when Alianne stood next to Daine that she realised the twenty-seven year old was pregnant.

'Alianne,' said Daine fondly. 'How I've missed you! I haven't seen you or your brothers since you were small!'

'I bet you've been kept too busy with all these wars, threats and with Numair and thoughts of the future,' Aly looked pointedly at the Wild Mage's stomach.

Daine blushed and covered her stomach with her hands. 'Is it that obvious?'

'No,' replied Aly. 'Remember I have something that gives me an upper hand.' 

'Of course. I had forgotten for a moment you had the Sight.'

'How are you coping?'

'Fine. I'm really happy with life at the moment. The trainees are coming on too.' She inclined her head in their direction.

Aly nodded in agreement. 'I thought they were doing quite well.'

'They're intermediate trainees but by the Gods, they have given me a lot of headaches.'

Alianne laughed and picked up a bow that was resting on the ground. 'I've not seen this type of bow before,' she remarked casually.

'No, I wouldn't have expected you to have,' answered Daine, running a hand instinctively over her abdomen. 'It's the native Copper Isle's bow. A bit crazed, if you ask me- like its makers. A bit wild and unpredictable. I don't use it but the trainees have to be trained in all the main bow types these days, just in case.'

'In case they loose their bow on the battle ground and have to use one of their enemies?'

'Precisely.'

Alianne ran her fingers along the alien bow shaft, feeling for any abnormalities in the wood or craftsmanship. 'Are they imported from the Isles?'

'Some. Some are made here- as replicas of those imported.'

It was, to a degree, like a cross between a Tortallan recurved bow and a striped Yamani long bow. Alianne had never seen anything quite like it before. She noticed a few trainees presently trying to control it; where they had nearly reached the bulls eye with a different bow, their arrows now ricocheted right off the target. Aly lifted the bow, her first two right fingers positioned on the string, straightened her left arm and pulled her right arm back so that her hand brushed past her ear. Holding the position for a second, she weighed its power and speed. When she let her arms fall to her sides again, she realised Daine was watching her. 

'Try it if you like,' Daine said. She wandered to the closest target- a hanging dummy- and asked the trainees to step aside for a moment. Then Daine stuck four arrows in the ground beside the starting line and indicated for Alianne to take the limelight. 

Slowly Aly walked up to the chalked line, standing just behind it. She removed one of the arrows from the grass and slipped the bowstring into the nock. Pulling the bowstring back to her face, she appraised the distance between herself and the dummy. 

After a moment's hesitation she lowered the bow without shooting and stepped back five paces. Then in one fluid movement she brought the bow up and released the arrow. It hit the red painted area of the dummy meant to represent its heart. 

Alianne turned to see all of the trainee's staring open-mouthed at her. She cringed. _Oh dear, she thought. _I shouldn't have done that. I hope to goodness I haven't put Daine to shame..._ As she turned to the Wild Mage, she suddenly heard her name being yelled out between gasps._

She turned around to be confronted with a short male, startlingly similar to her in appearance. Her face broke out into one large smile and she ran to greet the new comer.

'Alan!' she cried, throwing her arms around him. With a laugh, he hugged her back. 

'It's good to see you too, sister dear,' he teased. 'That was a very good shot with that bow.'

'Thank you, Alan. I bet _you_ could do better though.'

'I don't know,' he pondered, studying her shot. 'But I have practiced with that bow a lot. Come, let's talk.'

Aly said a quick good bye to the smiling Wild Mage and walked alongside her twin as he led her down paths towards the Royal gardens. She surveyed him as they walked. He was shorter than her by a handful of inches and still had that stocky yet lithe build he had possessed eight years ago, only now with added muscle. His hair was cut close to his head and was a reddy-brown colour. His eyes were deep purple and looking at them, Alianne could remember times when they had been so dark with anger they appeared almost black. 

'You're a lot taller than I remember, Aly,' Alan remarked, grinning. She smiled back.

'Well thinking about it, you've grown a bit in the last eight years too.' There was a comfortable pause as they walked down a path shrouded in flowers. 'I hear you're to take your Ordeal soon.'

'Yes,' Alan replied very quietly. 

Guessing he didn't particularly want to speak about that, Alianne changed the subject. 'I also heard Ma and Pa are coming today- bringing Thom with them, who passed his Ordeal of Mastery eight months ago.'

Alan smiled. 'Let me guess- you've been speaking to Jas. He said he wanted to fill you in on everything.'

Aly laughed. 'Well, he certainly did. So how did Thom find it?'

Her twin shrugged. 'Okay as far as I know. As Jasson probably told you, I haven't seen him since, although I have spoken to him through a magical connection. I think Ma's a bit worried about him. She's afraid he would follow the same path as our Uncle- his namesake.'

'So I bet she was pleased when Anelise turned up.'

'Oh, so he even told you about _that. Did he leave me anything to tell you?'_

'Yes- you can explain _exactly the relationship between our dear brother and the Prime Minister's daughter,' said Alianne tartly._

'Basically all I know is that Anelise managed to wangle a holiday for herself out of her Father, choosing to spend it at our home. She was only supposed to be away from court for a maximum of three weeks. Somehow I think she forgot that- five and a half months is slightly longer than three weeks.'

'So how come she's been allowed to stay that long?'

Alan grinned. 'I think she wrote to her mother about the current… situation and Lady Cythera had words with her husband.'

'And the "current situation" is…?'

'Well Thom always seems happy in his letters these days,' Alan replied with a smirk. 'And he always speaks highly of Anelise. I think you can make an educated guess at what's going on between them.'

Aly grinned at her twin. 'You know I've never been particularly good when it comes to education. Well, we'll find out later today for sure. How has training been?'

Alan shrugged. 'Hard- immensely so at times. But almost always fun. These last four years have been good- travelling around Tortall and dealing with different predicaments as they arise.'

'And what is your best weapon?'

He considered this for a moment. 'Probably just the sword- the knight's constant best friend.'

Alianne laughed at her twin's expression of words. She opened her mouth to ask him something else, but he jumped in with new enthusiasm before she could speak.

'Enough about me- let's talk about _you.'_

She snorted, yanking a red flower off a bush as they passed. 'Let's not. Everyone will be talking about me soon enough.' She brought the flower to her nose, smelling the delicate scent it gave off.

'Oh, only good things for sure,' he teased, watching her twiddle the flower between her fingers.

She raised an eyebrow and started to reply but the palace bell overrode her voice. 'Let's eat,' she said. 'I'm starving.'

They changed course, heading for a large mess hall, talking quietly about the past eight years. Once seated, the twins ate leisurely but heartily, talking all the while. 

Finally Alan pushed his plate away and stretched in his chair. Folding his hands over his now-full stomach, he appraised his sister sitting across the table. She was gazing out of a nearby tall window, her eyes misty with memories. He briefly thought, as he had so many times in the past, how strange her eyes were- blue and lilac flecks danced upon stormy grey orbs. Her long, thick, slightly curly hair was tied back this morning, although the leather thong was not doing a very successful job. Her skin was tanned and had the weathered appearance of one used to the outdoors. She wore a loose, full-sleeved white shirt and tan-coloured breeches as many women were want to do of late. However, unlike most of the females that wore men's attire, there were no signs of weapons of any sort upon Aly's person.

'Alan! Alianne! My favourite twins!' Jasson's cheerful voice broke Alan's ponderings of his sister's appearance and brought _her_ back from her reveries.

'Jasson, we're the _only_ twins you know,' countered Alan, licking the remnants of breakfast from his fingers. 

'That doesn't mean you're still not my favourite.'

Aly laughed. 'Oh, don't start you two.' She stood up, stretching her arms above her head; Jasson winced at the clearly audible click that came from her shoulders. 'Come on Alan, you'd better try and walk off at least _part_ of that large breakfast.'

Alan groaned but stood up anyway.  As Alianne began to walk towards the door, he followed, grabbing hold of Jasson as he passed.

'Come on, Prince. If I have to put up with her, you can too,' teased Alan. 

Even with the noise of those eating in the mess hall, Aly heard her twin's comment and called back, 'I'll get you for that, brother-dear.'

Jasson laughed heartily, tearing his arm from Alan's grip. 'Oh, I can't wait to see how Aly!' She grinned at the Prince over her shoulder before slipping out of the door. The two young men followed her, good-natured smiles across their faces, to find her waiting for them in the courtyard outside.

Together they started to walk down the hill into the busy streets of Corus, having not much else to occupy them at the palace. Their playful banter continued all the way, reminding the three of days past. Traipsing lazily down a busy market, they gathered outside a Raven Armoury stall; quietly examining different weapons for sale and occasionally Alan or Jasson would exclaim at the price.

Alianne was silent, her quick eyes appraising everything the stall had to offer. While Alan muttered over the value of a sword and Jasson chatted to the stall owner about a quiver of arrows he had picked up, Aly's eye was caught by a dagger. Polished until one could see one's face in the metal, the sun glinted powerfully off the weapon. Aly gently picked it up, weighing it in her palm. She traced a finger delicately over a red pattern embossed in the head of the blade, the epicentre of which was a small orange-red stone set in a bed of silver. Surprisingly for Raven Armoury, the handle had been covered with a soft yet durable leather, instead of having a wire-crafted hilt. 

'So… you still prefer the old knife in the back trick do you?' came a lilting voice from behind Aly. Knowing that voice as well as her own, Alianne turned around, a beam on her face at the same time as Alan yelling, '_Pa!_'

George Cooper, Baron of Pirate's Swoop, grinned down at his children from atop his horse. With a laugh, he dismounted and no sooner had his feet touched the ground than they momentarily left it again as he was swept up by two pairs of strong arms. With a chuckle, his arms went around his twins, returning their hugs. 

Finally the three pulled away to see Jasson grinning at them, the dagger Aly had picked up in his hands. He now held it up, hilt towards her.

'I removed it from you when you leapt at your Father. Somehow, I didn't think he'd quite enjoy being impaled on it. Hello, Baron by the way.' Grinning, Alianne replaced the dagger on the stall and then turned to her Father.

'I've missed you,' she said quietly, slipping her hand into his as she had done so often as a child.

'I've missed you too, sweetheart. So has your mother- she had no-one decent to argue with over trivial issues. Apparently Jonathan didn't qualify.'

Aly laughed, remembering how, even though they had loved each other dearly, she and her mother had quite frequently had heated arguments over the pettiest of things. The fights never lasted for long though, and soon mother and daughter were back in each other's arms, laughing at Prince Liam's feeble attempts to impress the girls or Alan's arrow bounding half the way across the court and completely missing the target. George had always complained that his wife and his daughter were too much alike, with the same hot temper and wild, roaming spirit.

'Where is Mother?' asked Alan. 'And I thought Thom was coming with you too.'

'Aye, they're both here,' replied George. 'They stopped a way back to look at amulets that increased the power of a specific area of your Gift.'

'Here they are,' said Jasson, nodding behind George. Indeed, the final two members of the family of Pirate's Swoop were riding up, unaware of the twins that waited for them. 

'George?' called Alanna, as she came closer and saw his rider-less horse. She spotted him standing next to his mount, his arms around a pair of redheads. Momentarily, a frown passed over her face, before a beaming smile took it's place and she dismounted in one fluid movement.

Alan was first to reach Alanna and they hugged, but Alan knew his Mother was longing more to hold her daughter. After all, Alan had still seen his parents while he was training and although he hadn't seen them in nearly a year, Aly hadn't seen them in _eight_ years. Alianne and Alanna met half way, throwing their arms around each other. 

Aly clung to her mother; over the past years there had been dark nights when she just longed to be held by those comforting arms. There had been days when all she had wanted was to talk and laugh with her Mother. But she had never been able to. There were some days when only your Mother could make things right and without her you just had to grit your teeth and bare it. Now that after all this time, she could do these things she had so long missed, the emotions were almost overwhelming.

At long last, Alianne loosened her claw-like grip on her Mother and realised they were gaining interested looks from passer-by's. 

'Ma…' whispered Aly, lost for words. It was strange how all of a sudden the simplicity of  "I've missed you" became overly clichéd and inappropriate. 

'Goddess, Aly- you've grown!' exclaimed Alanna. 'Look how much taller than me you are now!' Aly coloured slightly, grinning.

'I remember when she was small enough to be cradled in our arms,' said George with a happy smile.

'Aah- those were the days,' Alanna replied, winking at her daughter. Alanna looked around her. 'Where's Thom got to _now? Do you know that boy is the most trouble to travel with _ever_! At every corner he has to stop to look at something, or to alter some part of his luggage or to take his over-robe off! He will drive me to Chaos and back again!'_

Aly laughed. 'How come you're so early? I didn't expect you until later this afternoon.'

'That would be my fault,' replied George. 

'Your Father went and hurt himself yesterday. I had a look at it and it seems fine but I wanted to get him here as quickly as possible so that he can rest his ankle. We travelled until late last night. Surprisingly, I seem to know the route exceedingly well now.'

Suddenly an extremely tall man walked languidly over to their group, his full concentration on a large bag of cream cakes cradled to his chest, while he stuffed the last of a warm meat-filled pasty into his lazy-looking mouth. His hazel eyes were nothing extraordinary, but what drew people's attention was his hair. Just past his earlobes, the length was popular among nobles, yet the colour had never been seen before: a vibrant shade of emerald green.

'And he's _always_ eating!' cried Alanna, grabbing the bag of delicacies from the tall man.

'Aw- Ma, I just paid good money for those!' whined the tall, green-haired youth.

Aly's mouth dropped open. '_Thom?'_

He grinned cheekily at her. 'Hi, Aly. Nice to see you again.' Turning back to Alanna, who looked even shorter than usual when standing in front of him, he pleaded, 'Come on, Ma- its not going to do me any harm! Anelise is always saying I need to put more weight on! And _you complain about how lanky I am! How can I put more weight on if you stop me from eating?'_

With an exasperated sigh, Alanna handed him the cakes. 'He won't shut up unless I give them to him,' she muttered to her twins.

'Thom,' began Alan.

'Hey- Alan, my dear brother!' replied the older man in between mouthfuls. 'Ordeal soon!'

Alan ignored him. '_What have you done to your hair?_'

Thom grinned widely. 'Do you like it?' He ran a hand through his green locks. 'I thought it brought out the green in my eyes.'

Jasson exploded into laughter, earning a small glare from Thom. Aly bit her lip to try and hide her grin.

'Oh Thom,' she said. 'You're still as foolish as ever.'

He gave her a lop-sided grin. 'Would it be any fun if I wasn't?'

Their small group had at some point drifted away from the Raven Armoury stall slightly, now they were next to another stall but this one had large bolts of material propped up against the back. Six pairs of eyes wandered over the varying fabrics; one mouth chomped non-stop on cream cake after cream cake. The stall owner, bargaining with another customer, kept a wary eye on the cream-covered hands-- he didn't want them anywhere near his precious cloth!

Impulsively, Thom jabbed a finger in the direction of a royal blue bolt of fabric. Around his current mouthful, he said, 'Now _that's nice.'_

'Thom, you couldn't wear that,' replied George firmly.

'Why ever not?'

'It would clash horribly with your hair, dear,' answered Alanna. Turning away, she mounted Darkmoon {a/n: this is the horse she had in _Wild Magic, which she probably doesn't have any more because that was 11 years ago. However, this is my fic and Darkmoon is still alive and kicking!} and began to nose her way through the crowds. Thom's horse- a large dappled gelding- trailed Darkmoon obediently. George followed his wife's example, leaving their children and Jasson to bring up the rear on foot._

'I don't like riding much,' Thom stated. 'I'm tall enough as it is and I just feel like I'm going to fall off all the time.'

'That's because you're all limbs,' muttered Alianne. 'So I hear you've become very friendly with Anelise during my absence.'

He shrugged. 'If you want to put it that way, then sure. There's no need to try and be subtle about it, sister dear. I know it, Anelise knows it, and you all know it- we're courting! It's no big deal.'

'Fine, brother dear, I just didn't want to offend you.' Grinning, Thom stuck a hand out and ruffled the top of Aly's head. 'Thom!' she cried. 'Now I'll have cream cake in my hair! And I'm not eight years old any more!'

He laughed, then suddenly sobered up. 'No, you're not. Look at you- you're most definitely not eight years old. The full, slightly red lips, the breasts, the curves—'

'_Thom! _Do you _mind?' Both Aly and Jasson had begun to turn an interesting shade of pink and Aly had felt it was time to end that conversation before he got any further. Alan was chuckling to himself; Thom shrugged._

'Only stating the truth, Alianne dear. I'm sure you've had the men after you lately.'

'Yes well, we're not here to discuss my love life.'

'Why ever not? Isn't that what brothers are for- to embarrass their sisters and to pester them about their love lives?'

'I sincerely hope not, for your sakes.'

Thom shrugged again, snaking a long finger into the empty corners of his bag to scrape up any crumbs he had missed. Finding none, he crumpled the bag with a small frown. 'I like your ear bobs by the way. I was thinking of getting some myself.' At the astounded looks on the twin's faces, Thom burst into laughter. 'Don't worry- I'm just teasing! That's too much like frippery for me.'

Fingering the ear bobs in her right ear, Aly asked, 'Then what about your hair?'

'Now that is two things, neither of which are frippery. One, it's for attention and two, it's a fashion statement my dear, uneducated sister.'

Alianne tugged lightly on the small golden hoop in her earlobe, thinking how odd her brother was. Sighing, she gently touched the tiny diamond to the right of her hoop, before tucking an errant red curl behind her ear.

'Are you lot going to laze about forever?' called Alanna from her horse some metres in front of them. 

'Coming Mother dearest!' cried back the green-haired mage, with an over-bright smile. Alanna rolled her eyes, turning in her saddle to converse with her husband. Thom started to talk about something or other and Alan and Aly exchanged grins at their brother. Alianne opened her mouth to stop Thom before he got too into his one-sided conversation but was interrupted by a shout behind them.

'Jasson! _There_ you are! Gods above, I've been looking for you everywhere!'

'We've hardly been hiding, Anne,' commented Jasson as his sister joined them. Smiling shyly at Alan through her eyelashes, Princess Lianne linked arms with Jas. 

'Did you forget about this morning?' she asked the Prince; he frowned in reply. 'I'll take that as a "yes" then. The Prince from the Copper Isles is showing up this morning. Father's really anxious you wouldn't be here in time- that's why I came looking for you. Remember he wants to make a good impression on this Prince? The full Conté family lined up to greet him.'

Jasson made a face. 'We did the same for all the other Princes.'

'Aah- but the difference here is that relationships with the Isles are rocky- we are strictly forbidden to jeopardise this chance of peace in any way. You know what Father's like at the moment.' 

'Hello, Princess.'

The five had caught up with Alanna and George, and the latter, having turned atop his mount to make sure the gangly green-toped mage was still with them, had been surprised to see the new addition to their little group. At George's words, Alanna turned too, welcoming Lianne with one of her warm smiles.

'Hello Baron; Alanna. Did you want to see Jon? That's where Jas and I are off too next- you can come along too if you want.'

'Thankyou but I think we'll pass- tell your Father I'll speak to him later,' replied the Lioness.

Lianne nodded. 'Oh, I nearly forgot! Kally wants to see you, Alianne. I think she's hoping to introduce you to some more of her less-popular suitors.'

'In case they take my fancy?'

'Looks like it.'

Alianne rolled her eyes. 'How I just love Royalty.' They had arrived back at the palace and drifted through the gates. An anxious looking Kalasin was flitting around; seeing her siblings enter, she squealed and rushed over to them.

'Where have you been? Oh, and look at you- such a state! It's too late now! The Prince has been spotted- he's on the outskirts of the city. Come quickly before Father shouts. Alanna, George- you can come to welcome him too.' Thom and Alan began to wander off, talking amiably. Kalasin noticed them and screeched their names. 'Alan you are free to go or stay, how you please,' she commanded. 'Thom and Alianne you must come too.'

Thom made an indignant face. 'How come _he gets a choice?'_

'Because he's a squire. He doesn't yet have a title so therefore he's not as socially high as you or Aly. Come Thom, stop fussing.' Kalasin had not mentioned his hair- indeed she had barely looked at it and seemed completely unperturbed by the bold colour it was. _Either that or in her panicked state she hasn't noticed, thought Alianne._

Grinning, Alan ambled back to the palace to complete his day's duties. With the three Royals leading the way, Thom fell in next to his sister; they shared a painful look- this was going to be hard!

The rest of the Contés were waiting, their advisors and the most important members of their court gathered behind them. Alianne took a place next to her family amongst the crowds quickly gathering, gazing at the main palace gates through which this new prince would soon arrive. 

After long minutes of boredom, a procession began to rise up the hill. In front was a pair of finely dressed, dark-skinned men carrying standards bearing the Royal coat of arms of both the Copper Isles and Tortall. A herald walked between them, announcing the Prince's arrival. There was quite a large number of guards for an occasion such as this, most of which would soon be dispatched back home- evidence of the general distrust between the two realms. Many a courtier, advisor and mage were among the train but the Prince was easily identifiable. 

He rode alone, atop a large, completely black stallion. His attire was made of deep coloured velvets with the minimal amount of embroidery and jewels allowed on travelling clothes. He held his head high, and his nose even higher. His face was home to a bored yet arrogant look, with dull eyes and sharp features.

Coming through the palace gates, the procession stopped. The herald yelled a word and the guards saluted with a clomp of their boots. In return, Lord Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak shouted his own command and all the Tortallan warriors gathered- those of the King's Own, the Queen's Riders, the general army, the personal guards of the Royal army and any knights present- saluted back, _their boots the only noise amid the otherwise silence-filled court._

Alianne watched her mother salute, then gazed back at their highly honoured guest. Vaguely she wondered how anyone could devote themselves to their realm so much as some of the people standing, saluting in this courtyard- particularly subjects like her mother who had suffered so much hardship at the hand of the realm, yet continued to dedicate her life to it's safety. The Prince was dismounting now, as King Jon came to meet him. Watching them bow at each other before firmly shaking hands, Aly caught hurried movement out of the corner of her eye; she turned to find the source. A young squire was pushing his way through the crowds towards Aly and her family; when he eventually reached them, he paused for a moment, putting his hands on his knees and panting. 

'Lady Alanna,' he puffed. 'The Queen asked me to come find you when she heard you had arrived in Corus. As the King's Champion you are required up front.'

Alanna grumbled to herself and moved to follow the squire but George took hold of her, giving her quick kiss.

'Smile lass- get it over and done with quickly. Then you can spend the afternoon with me.'

That potential did make her smile and she followed the squire with a small bounce in her step. Alianne smiled at her parents and their ever-lasting love. Through thick and thin, they were by each other's side, always knowing how best to cheer the other up. _One day, Aly thought, __One day some time in the future I would like a love like that._

Standing next to Thom, she didn't listen as the mage rambled wildly about some market stall and its merchandise. Instead, she silently watched the Prince make his way among the more important courtiers. She studied him with particular interest when he met her mother but he showed Alanna no more curiosity than the Knight Commander. However, some minutes later, he returned to her side, asking her something. She nodded, bowed and began to walk through the crowds. He trailed after her, a few of his people behind him.

Aly frowned. What was going on? It wasn't typical for the King's Champion to lead Royal guests into the palace. Slowly Alanna made her way away from the main gates. _Though I suppose, thought Aly, _if that's what this Prince requested, Ma could hardly refuse.__

Thom had stopped his idle ravings and seemed as puzzled as his younger sister as to their mother's actions. Both siblings were immensely surprised when the Lioness stopped in front of them.

'Prince Dartonian Rexam, son to King Yota Rexam, Crown Prince of the Copper Isles and all lands and tribes under the control of said realm, and Duke of Tintburne,' reeled off Alanna, 'I would like to introduce you to my husband, Baron George Cooper of Pirate's Swoop—' George bowed; the Prince nodded in acknowledgement—'and my eldest two children: Master Thom of Pirate's Swoop and-'

'Master?' interrupted Prince Dartonian. His voice was harsh and cold.

'Yes,' replied Thom softly in his own cold tone. 'Master of the Mithran Light (A/N: I think that's right…). I passed my Mastery quite some time ago. This surprises you?' Thom seemed even taller than his 6'4" and an air of wariness now replaced the lazy manner that had earlier resided about him.

'Slightly,' replied the Prince. 'I did not think it was usual for Masters to be so… young.' The hesitant yet carefully calculated pause implied that he meant something quite different; a glance at the mage's wild hair and rough attire reinforced this ideal. 

'It's not,' Thom retorted showing a sarcastic little grin.

The Prince turned away from the mage almost in disgust at the vulgarity he saw before him, looking instead toward Alianne. 'And you are?' he asked curtly, as if he expected the same strain of crudeness to run throughout the family.

Alanna stepped up, ready as always to intervene. 'This is my daughter, Alianne, your Highness.' She shot a glare at Aly to make sure she would not be as blunt as her brother.

Prince Dartonian smiled and straightened even more than his already erect form. 'Aah- yes. My mage here, Theo-' he indicated a young woman some paces behind him- 'was telling me about you on our journey here. She had heard you had returned to your home, now branded as the Shang Tiger. Tell me, what is the secret of Shang?'

'Sire?' quested Aly, taken aback. 'The secret?'

'Yes. How come Shang warriors are so skilled in every weapon and every form of fighting? Why the animal names? Why the isolation, the travelling?'

Alianne smiled. 'The skill comes from solid daily practice for years, Sire, taught by the best teachers. As for the rest, every race has its own traditions, your Highness.'

The Prince made an unsatisfied sound and clicked his fingers at his subjects hovering behind him. 'Well thank you, Lady Alanna, your family is most interesting.' His black stallion had been brought to his side; he mounted the jerking creature and looked down on Alianne. 'I believe I will be speaking to you again, Tiger.' Turning his steed, he rode back to the Royal family, ready to be taken into the palace.

'Well he seemed to have an interest in _you_, Alianne,' remarked George. She made a non-committal noise, watching the back of the disappearing Prince.

There was some instinct in her that told her this man was not one to get involved with. Yes, he had been arrogant and demanding but that was the way of royalty and Aly knew his behaviour would be no different to the other guests. But for some reason, her skin had crawled at his last words. When he had hap-hazardly commented that he had been speaking of her previous to their meeting, a part of her shrunk away in revulsion. She didn't like him, didn't like him at all; yet she had no reason not too.

~

Alianne, Shang Tiger, sighed and pulled the towel from her wet hair, feeling- without thought- it glance over the back neckline of her plain shift. Her eyes darted with obvious reluctance over the three evening dresses laid out for her examination and preference. She immediately discarded the first one: pink satin did nothing to compliment her. So her eyes fell instead to the other two gowns, toying between the pale blue and the deep lilac. 

Gowns, like so many other things, had changed greatly under Queen Thayet's guidance. Often they now had less frivolous, encumbering frills, lace and bows; the style now was for simpler forms with extensive embroidery and a larger inclusion of small jewels sewn into the pattern. Colour, too, had changed- where once it was nearly unheard of for respectable ladies of court to wear anything but pale pastels, now bright hues were readily accepted. Although the simpler designs were more practical, gowns were now more expensive, making competition between court ladies even more fierce.

Alianne sighed again and ran her fingers through her wet hair. Coming across knots, she made a face and searched out her bone-handled comb. She hoped the soothing motion would help her come to a decision for she did not want to waste more time staring at dresses.

Gazing into the full-length mirror, she piled her hair up on the back of her head, pursed her lips together and tried to imagine herself now if eight years ago she had gone to the convent as her father had originally suggested.

A knock came on her door, interrupting her daydream and making her a jump. A little bit of colour leapt to her face at the thought of potentially having been caught like this but it sunk back down again as soon as she replied to the knock.

'Yes? Who is it?' Her voice was unwavering, with only the slightest hint of annoyance.

'It's me- Jas,' came the muffled answer.

Aly looked over herself. With wet hair and dressed only in her shift, she was hardly a sight for the Prince.

'Come in, Jasson,' she called over her shoulder as she made her way into the dressing room. She knew the Prince would disapprove of her indecency and anyway, she had wanted an excuse to try out the cotton and satin dressing-gown that she had found hanging over the clothes horse next to her bath yesterday. 

She heard the door click shut and booted feet upon the boarded floor, and she re-entered her main room, pulling the black and white gown around her. 

Jasson watched as Aly came into his view, slipping her second arm into a sleeping over-robe. He raised an eyebrow while greedily taking in the sight. 'A little scantily dressed, aren't we Alianne?'

She smiled at him, full red lips with a spice of unknown seduction. 'I know you don't mind, Jas, so no fooling me.'

'But what if anyone was to—suddenly burst in? I'm sure they would feel this is a very compromising situation.'

'Jas, you're practically my brother! Don't be silly.' Alianne picked up the forgotten towel and began to rub her hair, leaning slightly to one side so that it fell over her shoulder.

_You're practically my brother! Don't be silly. Oh, he didn't like those words, didn't like them at all. But he wasn't going to let on to __her about that. At least, not yet. So he smiled and said demurely, 'Of course, how could I forget? Pray, my lady, forgive my insolence.'_

The laughter that bubbled from her lips was nearly enough to make up for that unwanted remark. A small twinkle wormed into his blue eyes and he smiled at the joy of having made her laugh.

'Oh Jasson, this reminds me of our childhood again.' She smiled warmly at him and he felt a corresponding warmth in his chest. Suddenly she turned serious. 'I have to be rude though. If you have come here for idle chit-chat, I'm afraid I'll have to decline. See, I'm having problems preparing for tonight.'

Jasson chuckled at this. 'Then I shall solve your problems.'

She raised her eyebrows at him and when he didn't move, picked the two gowns up from her bed and held them each in front of her in turn. 'Blue- or lilac?'

'Neither,' replied Jas and crossing the room he took them from her, promptly discarding them.

'Neither?' Aly echoed mockingly. 'What, you propose I go to the ball in my shift and over-robe?'

'Although I'm sure that would be much appreciated from certain members of the audience-' he grinned- 'that wasn't what I meant.'

'You will have me wear something of Kally's?'

'If you let me speak, I will tell you exactly what I mean.' She pouted at him and he hesitated, pausing long enough to make that image of her an ever-lasting memory. 'The ball has been cancelled.' Her little frown was nearly as adorable as her pout, but Jasson pushed that out of his mind. 'As you know, the ball was in honour of the arrival of Prince Dartonian Rexam of the Copper Isles. We have had an honorary ball for all Kalasin's prospective suitors. However, Prince Dartonian has decided he would rather have the ball tomorrow evening, giving him time to settle down and rest. So it is no longer on tonight.'

'So you are wrong- it has not been cancelled.'

'Pardon?'

'You started of by saying it was cancelled. However, you commented that the Prince wants the ball to take place tomorrow. Therefore the ball has only been postponed, not cancelled.'

Jasson glared at Alianne, then caught sight of the wicked spark in her eyes, and they both began laughing.

'So how come the Royal Prince of the realm of Tortall- even though he _is_ the youngest of the Royal children has been sent off as messenger to mere warriors?' Aly couldn't help but notice his cheeks colour ever so slightly.

'Well, I wanted to speak to you again anyway. So I said I'd come and tell all of your family.'

'How kind of you,' mocked Alianne. 'And what was it you wished to speak to me about?'

But as he opened his mouth to reply, there was another knock on the door and with an apologetic look in Jasson's direction, Alianne opened the door.

'Aly dear!' It was Thom. 'We guessed you would have heard the news by now so Ma sent me along to ask you if-'

'Thom, if you don't mind, I have a visitor,' interrupted Alianne. 

Interest flared in his face. 'And you only came home yesterday,' he muttered. 

Aly glared at him. 'Not _that kind of visitor, Thom! It's just Prince Jasson, so if you don't mind can you please just come back later?'_

Her brother peered around her, saw Jasson standing alone in the middle of the room with his arms folded across his chest, and waved. 'Hello Jasson!' he cried, with a manic grin on his face. To Alianne, he said, 'Ah, but what if I _do_ mind?' 

'_Thom_,' growled Alianne in a low voice. 'Don't be an—'

He cut her off. 'Look, like I said, I just came with a message from Ma, savvy?'

' "Savvy"?'

'Oh, its sailor's slang.'

' "Sailor's slang"?'

'One of my mates- _friends- at the City came from a sailing family. He taught me a lot about sea life. Now, about our parents- they want to know if you're free tonight.'_

Alianne looked doubtful. 'Well, yes- I suppose I am now that the ball has been postponed. Why?' she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. 

'Because Ma and Pa wish to take you out for the evening,' he replied smugly.

'Out? Where? Thom, please try and be more helpful.'

'I don't know quite where exactly- just somewhere down in the city. To celebrate.'

'To celebrate _what? Stop being so irritating, Thom!'_

'Sorry- didn't realise I was. To celebrate you of course. You know, becoming Shang and coming home and all. Savvy?'

'Only partly. And what exactly does that term mean?'

Thom shrugged. ' "Understand", I suppose. So will you come with us?'

'_"Us?"_ '

'Well I'm coming as well. You didn't seriously think I'd let you celebrate without me, did you?'

'Is Alan coming too?' Alianne asked, choosing to ignore her elder brother.

'If he can. You know what these squires are like- always far too busy for their own good. So will you come? That's the last time I ask you.'

'Yes, I'll come. Now can you leave me in peace for a bit please Thom?'

The lanky mage smiled broadly. 'Of course, my lady, as you wish. Be at the stables in half an hour's time.' And with a mock bow, Thom left.

Alianne let out a long, weary sigh and shut the door. 'How can Anelise put up with him?' she asked rhetorically, before apologising to the Prince for her brother's behaviour. Jasson had stood patiently through all of Thom's bantering chatter.

'I had better leave you then to dress,' the Prince commented, making for the door.

'Wait!' cried Aly, putting a hand on his arm. Jasson looked down at the contact but did not break it. 'You wanted to talk to me about something before Thom arrived.'

_It is too late now, he thought grimly. Smiling falsely he said, 'Oh never mind, that was not important. Forget about it now, and prepare yourself for your evening.'_

Aly withdrew her hand, not liking his tone- something was not right. She inhaled a deep breath slowly through her nose, closing her eyes very briefly. Then she looked at Jasson standing by her door through hooded eyes. As she thought, he was lying to her. With a little thankful thought to her Sight, she pushed the power back into her.

'Jasson, wait.' He looked back over his shoulder, eyebrows raised. 'You heard my conversation with Thom- I have no idea whereabouts I am being taken but if you want to, you may come too.'

Jasson smiled at her. 'Thank you for the offer but I fear I would intrude upon a family affair.'

'Nonsense. They are celebrating me and so I am entitled to bring a guest if I wish to. And if they say anything I'll tell them what I told you earlier- we're practically siblings anyway. However, apart from that, it is my _desire_ that you come with me tonight.' 

Prince Jasson felt an uncalled for fire build in him at the thought of her combining him and her desires in the same sentence. 

'In that case then, how could a sensible man refuse?' he replied smoothly.

'Don't flatter yourself, Jas. Be at the stables at the correct time and I will deal with any problems my family tries to make.'

'Which stables do you think Thom meant?'

'Your guess is as good as mine. Any idea where their horses will be stabled?'

'No.'

'Me neither.' Aly laughed. 'I'm sure we will find them. Goodbye.' And shutting the door on the Prince, she turned to change into a simpler dress than the evening gowns thrown haphazard onto the bed by her guest.

~

As it turned out, Prince Jasson was not the only guest wishing to celebrate the Shang Tiger that wasn't related to the family of Pirate's Swoop. True, the evening had started off with just Aly, Jasson, Thom, Alanna and George but soon they were joined by many friends, taking over the small drinking room of the tavern.

Alan turned up, bringing Princess Lianne with him. Lord Sir Raoul and his wife, both good friends with Alianne's parents came too with their congratulations. Alanna's other childhood friend, Sir Gareth, arrived soon after the Knight Commander, a young man by his side. Tall, flaxen-haired and brown-eyed, this was the Prime Minister's only son- Sir Finn of Naxen. Sir Nealan of Queenscove, having met most of the family when he was a squire, dragged Lady Knight Keladry along. 

Other young people turned up too out of curiosity to see this legend family- the mysterious Baron, good friend of the King; the Baroness- the Lioness- first female knight of the realm; the elder son- a particularly young, strong and odd Black Mage; the younger son- following in his mother's footsteps; and now the only daughter- a Shang warrior. They wanted to size up this Tiger in their own minds; her namesake might be like that of her mother but was she of any worth compared to the fabled, all-powerful Lioness? Only time would tell, but these curious mortals wanted a good head start.

But they saw nothing of spectacular interest- nothing to gossip about. The evening was a success with dancing, cheering, singing, drinking and congratulating. Presents were given from the close family to the cause of the celebrations: from her Father, the dagger that had caught Aly's rapt attention that morning on the Raven Armoury market stall and from her mother, the crystal ember that had been given to her by the Great Mother Goddess. Thom's gift was less useful.

Smiling smugly, he handed Alianne two corked glass vials wrapped tightly in leather.  They contained a coloured substance- liquid with gas above and powder tight along the bottom. One was a shocking blue, the other black. Trying to look pleased, Aly turned to her brother.

'Thanks very much, Thom but... what exactly are these?'

His smile broadened. 'They're Mage-made hair dyes.'

' "Hair dyes"?'

'Yep. Like my green hair. A friend and me at the City worked out how to make them. When you want to put one in, you pour it over your hair and comb it in, then soak your hair in cold water for about ten minutes. Oh, and make sure you do it just before you go to bed. Then, spread the powder at the bottom of the vial over your pillow when you retire for the night and this will seal the colour in.'

Alianne looked dubiously at the vials she held. 'Thanks Thom.'

'That's okay. I thought they might come in handy in the future. I've given you a black and a bright blue there, see?'

'Yeah, I see. Well, thank you Thom. I'm pleased that you can put your Gift and City training to such a... practical use.'

With an even wider smile, he moved off to talk with Finn of Naxen. Finn was three years older than the Black Robe Mage yet quite a few inches shorter. The two men seemed to get on well and since Thom was courting the knight's sister, Aly surmised that this was a good thing.

Alan's present was quite different to those of the others. At a quiet moment he drew his twin aside to a corner, a small knapsack in his hands.

'I'm afraid Aly that my presents are nothing like Ma's, Pa's or Thom's. I cannot offer you the partial protection of a Goddess and I do not have magic to make something like Thom has. As you're probably aware, I have little money so buying you something of true value would be hard. However, I want as your twin to give you my heart-filled congratulations and good wishes for the future. I also give you a promise that in the future, you may ask for my help when you need it and whatever the circumstances, I will do all I can to assist you.'

Aly took her twin's hands. 'Thank you, Alan,' she said sincerely. 'I do not need riches or hard work from my family for completing what was expected of me. Your congratulations and love mean more than had you spent all the money you owned on me!'

'Thank you. I also brought you something from our childhood. I thought you might like them.' He pulled a small, velvet drawstring bag from the knapsack. Handing it to her, she opened it and let the contents fall into her upturned hand. Upon her palm fell a pair of small golden hoops. Aly nearly squealed in delight and surprise, hugging her brother instead with so much sudden intensity, he only just stopped himself from falling over. The earbobs were the first ones Aly had owned, given to her by her grandma, Eleni Cooper when, as a very young girl, she had asked her grandmother to pierce her ears. The new decoration at such a young age did not go down well with Alanna but her daughter was ecstatic, delighting in the earbobs Eleni had given her. The old woman told the little girl how pretty the earbobs looked amongst her red curls and told her to look after them very well for they had been _her_ mothers and so were very old. When, ten years old and leaving home, Aly had been unable to find the hoops, she had been drastically upset.

'I returned home for my summer break last year and found them under my bed,' said Alan. 'I thought you would want them back so I kept hold of them, not trusting a messenger.'

'Thank you,' she said gratefully, taking her current ear hoops out and placing her childhood favourites in their place.

'I have something else for you too,' Alan said. 'Something else from the past.' He pulled a blue and green coloured length of material out of the knapsack, holding it up and shaking it so that the tassels on the ends danced wildly through the air.

Aly laughed and held her arms out. He draped the shawl over her arms and she hugged it tight to her. When she was but eighteen months old, her mother had travelled (under great protest) to Tyra for the King. Apparently, on arriving home, Alanna had rushed to her young twins, and wrapped them each in a dyed shawl from Tyra- red and purple for Alan and blue and green for Alianne. Alianne hadn't seen her shawl in years.

'Thank you so much, Alan. It means a lot to me- everything that you've said and done.' She hugged him again, replacing the shawl in the knapsack for safekeeping. Alan departed to dance with Princess Lianne, and Aly looked on with pleasant surprise.

As the evening winded down to a close, people left in dribs and drabs. Most had important business the following day and so did not want to spend the whole night in a tavern. Jasson, returning to the palace with his sister, offered to escort the Shang Tiger home but she refused, wanting to stay a little longer. Her family were the last to head off, leaving her alone with her ale and her presents. The little hoops in her ears, the ember an unfamiliar weight around her neck and the dagger pressing against her leg, hidden in her boot-sheath. 

Her thoughts were both wild and calm, happy and sad all at the same time. Wild with the tumultuous things buzzing through her mind; calm because life seemed for a crack in Time to be perfect; happy because she was accepted for who she was and was now surrounded by caring friends and family; and sad because of all the memories that had been disturbed- all the memories of times gone by when life was simpler. 

Lifting her tankard, Alianne swallowed the last gulp of ale. Pulling the knapsack onto her shoulder, she set off for her temporary home. The night was cold- especially for the beginning of September- and had a certain crispness about it as if frost was setting in. Aly frowned slightly and looked to the sky as she began to walk. It was filled with over-bright stars. Alianne shivered but not from the chill of the wind. A shiver was running down her spine and a niggling sensation from her Sight meant something was not quite right.

She debated throwing her Sight out of her body like a net to catch the positions, emotions and maybe even identities of anyone around, but without specialised training in the use of her magic she could easily tire doing that or be caught unawares. Her Shang instructors had always discouraged her from using her Sight at any time. As a rule, they didn't take any children with magical tendencies and had only accepted Alianne after much persuasion and under the excuses of the Sight not being the Gift (the most common and probably most powerful magic of the mortal realms) and that she was the daughter of the Lioness- a skilled female _Gifted fighter, trained and loved by the last Shang Dragon, a brave man who gave his life for Alanna's King. _

The streets were deserted and the wind was cold. Alianne began to wish that she hadn't lent her horse to Lianne- she could have been home a lot quicker and in bed a lot sooner. _There aren't even cats around, she thought._

Just as that muse passed through her mind she thought she heard a scuffling noise off to her left. She paused mid-step, heard no other noise and continued.

_It could have been any animal- even a drunk fool long past reality. I wasn't even completely sure I heard it. I'm probably just paranoid from lack of sleep, too much ale and all these stirred up memories._

That time she had definitely heard it. Aly made no move, her breathing even, waiting, watching, listening. But there was no attack, no movement, no noise. She took a step, determined to get home without further ado, when there came a sneeze from the very place the scuffling had been. 

She smiled. The game was up now. She knew they were there, and they knew she knew. She stood perfectly still as they moved some paces closer and they hit the general range of her Sight. If she had paid attention to her Sight, and put some effort into it she would have known they were behind her ages ago. As it was, they had kept just that bit beyond her so that their presence went undetected. Her Sight now told her what she had already guessed at: they were hungry, cold, and thirsty for blood and money. These were the people that hid away during the day and came out at night- scavenging rubbish and following anyone with anything they could take- foxes, every one of them. 

Alianne waited as they made a circle around her. Tuned in perfectly to her Sight, each man gave off a dull glow that was their aura and thus silhouetting the outlines of their bodies against the sky.

'You don't want to be doing this, boys,' she called lightly. Her words were swallowed up by the thick darkness of the late summer night.

'We've got ye surrounded!' His common city accent was so thick, she could only just make out what he said.

'I know. And you don't really want to take any steps closer.'

'Ye don't scare us, little girl!'

'Out in the dark alone, pretty kitty?' called another from her right. 'We'll take ye home!' The men cackled with bawdy laughter and Aly wrinkled her nose, wondering at the mental affects of pure poverty.

'Thanks for the offer but maybe this cat can take care of herself! Now we can do this the easy or the hard way. The easy way is you listen to me and _back off_. I just got a shinny new dagger and I'd hate to dirty it with _your_ blood. The hard--' She never got to explain the hard way as the leader yelled a blood-curdling "get her!" and the men screamed like beasts and charged.

Aly settled the knapsack containing her shawl and Mage-made hair dyes over both shoulders, took a firm stance and commented to herself, 'I'm guessing the hard way then.'

She grinned into the night.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

~

Please review!


	3. Chapter Three

A/N: Man, I'm so pleased with myself! I actually got most of this written the afternoon after I posted the last chapter! How good?! And I've already started chapter 4 so don't you lot worry! Ok, I know there are a million and one things I wanted to say but I can't remember them all. There are just three main things and then I'll shut up:

1) I've just read the excerpts from _Trickster's Choice_ (yes, I'm behind times!) and so I only _now_ know exactly how Alianne looks so I'm sorry that she looks different in my fic, but I won't be changing it. Also, from the excerpts I found out that my ages are all a year out. But I'm not changing that either.

2) I'm trying to cut down my chapters slightly from now on to about 6000 words (instead of about 10,000!) so they're not so drawn out and to make them more interesting. I was just 132 words over this chapter! Lol

3) Thank you so so so much for all the wonderful reviews. They mean so much to me and are what keep me going when I get stuck! I'm also really enjoying writing this fic and I think that's partly because of the wonderful feedback I'm getting!

Ok, there you go.

Dedication: To Kerm, once again, for putting up with my insistent questions and for the title chapter. Love ya, sugah!

Stolen Lives

Part One: Look For The Dark

Chapter Three: Beginnings and Endings

Suffocation. That was running wild through her mind at that moment. She was going to suffocate. And with a forced smile on her face, too. 

The very air itself was suffering from asphyxia. The summer evening breeze had no chance of surviving in here. Shut in this room, the gardens outside seemed like a different dimension. A different dimension where one could actually breathe. 

But she, the Tiger, was shut in here and could only peer through the windows to that desirable other place. But a tiger she was, and tigers were survivors. She would not suffocate, she would breathe and rise above her fears.

Alianne turned away from the window and studied the ballroom in front of her. Everyone had turned out to see Prince Dartonian Rexam and the ballroom was crowded. It was stifling hot even though all the tall windows remained open and the doors thrown wide. The air was thick with the rich music, heavy chatter and inane tittering coming from every corner of the room. Courtiers gathered in groups, men led their partners onto the dance floor and the Royal family alternated between mixing with their people and sitting unapproachably on their thrones. 

Aly saw a couple vacate a window box, not taking their eyes or their hands off of each other. She darted for the seat, catching it before another couple were so lucky. With a sigh of relief, she sank back against the window frame, leaning slightly out of the ground-floor window. It was cooler here; but more importantly it was less populated- Alianne, the Shang Tiger, had an uncontrollable fear of tight, confined spaces. 

She touched a finger delicately to the bruise on her left cheekbone- it was throbbing slightly. With a grim smile, Aly cast her mind back to where the bruise had originated from: her run-in with those city rats last night. 

They had been worse fighters than she had expected. She easily defeated them and would have been out of there without a mark if she hadn't let one of them get too close. She glared at the wall in remembrance and annoyance.

'Get her!' the leader of the motley group had yelled, in typical blood-curdling fashion. The men had howled like wolves and jumped towards their prey. Their noise did nothing to unnerve Aly- it was as much as she had predicted. She was ready and waiting for them.

The first man held a crude dagger and lunged for Alianne. Yet before he could make contact, she had twisted her body and kicked his wrist at an odd angle. He yelled out in pain and dropped the dagger, clutching his wrist. 

Pivoting round, Aly caught the second man's punch, returning it with twice as much power into his jaw. He reeled, seeing stars. She ducked and swept his feet out from under him, not reacting in the slightest as his head cracked on the hard cobbled street. 

In a half-crouch, she hit the next man between the legs; he yelped and discarded his own attack. Straightening up, she pulled out her new dagger and rapped the hilt against the next man's head. It was just her and their excuse for a leader now. He stood off in the darkness, but made no movement to run. 

Sensing the first man had temporarily forgotten the pain in his wrist and was preparing to attack her from behind, she whipped around, throwing her dagger with perfect accuracy. It thudded into his heart; she didn't watch him slowly collapse but spun to confront the leader.

Only to be met with the third man. He was aiming for her face with an ugly fist. She ducked to the side, but not quickly enough: his punch still caught the edge of her cheek with some force. With a growl, she hit him hard in the stomach, then across the face and finally finished him off with a kick. Breathing heavier now, Aly turned to be met with only darkness. He had run. Their leader had watched them all be beaten by a girl and ran at the last moment. She could still just about make out his footsteps. 

Aly grunted and gingerly touched her cheek. She would not be going after the sewer rat. Sighing, she recovered her new dagger and wiped the blood off onto the dead man's leg. She had always believed her Pa had great taste in daggers, and now she saw- with proof-  that belief was still true.

'What are you doing sitting over here by yourself, Aly? I thought you quite enjoyed balls.' Alanna's voice startled her daughter. She jumped, nearly springing from her seat. 'And where did you get that bruise from?'

Alianne looked up at her mother, to find the older woman smiling good-humouredly. Aly pulled a face. 'I was careless enough to let some sewer rat come too close to me last night,' she replied as the Lioness sat down next to her. 'And yes, I do quite enjoy a dance but there are far too many people here for my comfort tonight.'

Alanna reached a hand out to her daughter's face but Aly pulled away.

'Ma, what do you want to go and do that for? It's only a little bruise.'

'But none of the gorgeous men will want to dance with you if you have a massive bruise on your face, sweet,' replied Alanna with an evil glint in her eye.

'Maybe I don't mind that,' Aly muttered, letting her mother touch cool fingers to her cheek anyway. A purple softness pushed the bruise away, but it took Aly a few moments to realise her mother was also calming her tense body. 'Ma!' she hissed.

Alanna shrugged. 'Sorry, just trying to make you relax.' Her daughter eyed her grumpily, and Alanna glared back at her. But Alianne was determined not to ruin her new beginning in life and apologised. Alanna grunted in reply, not quite sure why her daughter wasn't arguing back like her usual self. 

Aly looked away from Alanna, gazing instead over the dancing couples. In the centre of them were Kalasin and Dartonian, dancing together and both smiling. 

Alanna had followed her daughter's look and commented, 'I'd watch yourself around him, Aly.'

'Why?'

'I'm not sure how much you're aware of the current political status of Tortall,' Alanna started. 'But having been in war three years ago with Scanra, both nobles and commoners are averse to any suggestions or inclinations of conflict. Relationships with the Copper Isles have always been... delicate. After the incident with Princess Josiane, the connections between our realm and the Isles just went downhill. Jonathan has managed to improve this slightly but the relationship is still rocky. Prince Dartonian brings a possible peace treaty with him.'

'As the Copper Isles is our biggest current threat, this is too gold an opportunity to miss,' interjected Raoul. Aly smiled at the large man that had joined them.

'Sit, Raoul,' commanded the Lioness. 'You're far too tall for good health.'

Raoul sat by his friend and smiled at Alianne. 'If Kalasin marries Prince Dartonian,' he continued, 'We will be saved from a nasty war. King Jon wants absolutely nothing to jeopardise this chance of peace. That means everybody has to be particularly nice to Prince Rexam, and do however he pleases.'

Alianne looked over at the Prince, still dancing with Kalasin. As a Shang warrior, she never had to involve herself too much with politics and she often forgot how intricate decisions could be when living a life at court. It amazed her to see people living this way- everyday the same as the last, every decision the same as yesterday's, every problem answered with the same solution- without blinking. 

As Alianne watched, Princess Kalasin began to lead the Prince towards them, a little bounce in her step. 

'Well what have we got here- a bunch of fugitives?' laughed Kalasin. She turned to the Prince, twittering all the while, but he stood stiff and unsmiling behind her. Her joke had fallen on deaf ears it seemed, and she didn't like that. She opened her mouth to speak again but Prince William of Maren- following her like a dog- jumped in. 

'Princess Kalasin, would you do me the great honour of dancing with me?'

The Princess looked rather helplessly at Alianne and the two seated knights. 'Well...' she stammered, turning to Prince Dartonian and expecting him to offer as well. But Dartonian didn't even glance her way. In fact, he was staring at Alianne. 

'Tiger. You do not dance?' he said rather harshly. Kalasin, seeing no help from any quarter, accepted Prince William's offer, resigning herself to having to leave the more handsome of the Princes alone with her friend.

'I dance when asked to dance, your Highness,' she replied without feeling.

He nodded and his eyes flickered to Alanna and Raoul. 'You do not get many offers, then?'

'Why do you say that, your Highness?' asked Aly, trying to keep her voice even.

'You have not danced tonight.'

Aly was surprised. _He must have been watching me, _she assumed and that same shiver ran down her spine again. 'You forget, your Highness, that I am a female warrior and as such, I am not liked by everyone here.'

'Understandably.' Aly tensed. There was an awkward pause. 'I request that you would dance with me, Lady Alianne.'

She knew she raised her eyebrows at his words but she couldn't help it. That was a bit of a change of heart! Despite the niggling sensation in her stomach telling her to avoid him, she smiled sweetly and said, 'How could I refuse?' Standing up, she put her hand on his offered arm and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

'Exactly. How could you, without seeming rude?' he replied acidly, putting a hand on her waist.

Aly looked at him uncomprehendingly. His whole body seemed tense and rigid and his words seemed to imply that he was unhappy, or unsatisfied. Yet a minute ago, when she had watched him dancing with Kally, he had seemed relaxed and was smiling along with the Princess. Which part was false? What side of him was an act? She would have used her Sight, but the magic seemed completely baffled by him. There was some niggling worm that said he was lying to her, but at the same time, another part of her Sight said he was truthful. She discarded her Sight for now, watching his face intently as he sped her through the dance.

He moved too fast for her liking, and too harshly. To her, a dance was like a fight- or vice versa. Both were beautiful, and needed careful footwork. You had to be relaxed and at one with your body to win either. But she was finding it increasingly difficult to enjoy this dance for what it was.

'Are you troubled by bandits and rogues?'

'Pardon, your Highness?' She had been caught unawares and didn't fully understand the question.

'Is your realm- Tortall- often troubled by bandits and rogues?'

'Umm, yes, your Highness,' replied Aly, a little unsurely- what an odd question! 'But the numbers of these outlaws have been reduced, your Highness, by the Queen's Riders- that's why they were formed. To fight outlaws, that is.'

'Hmm. That's the... _army_ that allows females to fight, correct?'

'Yes your Highness.'

There was a pause. Then, '_We_ do not suffer so much from land outlaws as from outlaws on the water. Pirates,' he clarified. 

Shocked- believing that pirates _came_ from the Copper Isles- Alianne burst out, 'Pirates? You suffer from _pirates?'_

He looked down his nose. 'Yes. You, like many others, believe that pirates are born and bread in the Isles, do you not?' He didn't wait for an answer. 'Perhaps that is true. But we are also attacked by the rogues.'

'I- I am... _sorry_ to hear that, your Highness. Do you have much success catching the villains?' This had to be the oddest conversation Aly had ever had on the dance floor! So much so, she was becoming more and more unsure of the most appropriate replies.

'Unfortunately, my father King Yota, does not feel the pirates are of his concern and orders attacks on only a handful each year.'

'Oh. Are... You obviously are unhappy with this, your Highness. Is there nothing you can do?'

'No,' he said with determined finality. 'There are rumours, however, of a man. Well, it is assumed he is a man- some say he is a ghost, others say he is some kind of God or Immortal.'

'How odd. And what does this man do, your Highness?' She felt like she was playing a game- like she was a marionette whose strings were being pulled in uncomfortable ways. _Maybe this is how Players felt when acting a part not them,_ Aly pondered.

'Well they are only rumours of course, but gossip has it that he attacks against pirates- sinking their ships and taking their plunder. However, rumours abound that he also fights port towns, plundering the noble homes and freeing slaves. Booty he loots from these homes he apparently gives away to those in most dire need of it!'

'He surely seems like something from a myth, your Highness and far too silly to be a mortal man. Does he have some kind of name?'

'Yes- they call him the Black Falcon. I was wondering if you here in Tortall had heard of him also? Does he plunder your shores?'

Aly smiled. 'Not as far as I know and I'm sure I would have heard of him had he done that to Tortallans.'

Prince Dartonian gave her a scrutinising look through hawk-like eyes but said nothing. Indeed, he did not talk again while the dance finished. Afterwards, he led her to the side of the hall, inclined his head ever so slightly, and left her alone. A few minutes later, Aly saw him once more on the dance floor, this time a buxom blonde on his arm. However, he looked no more pleased about this than having the Tiger by his side.

_Well that might have been interesting but I certainly didn't enjoy it, thought Alianne to herself. A delicate, manicured hand fell lightly on her arm._

'Oh, Alianne!' squealed Kalasin. 'Isn't he just wonderful?'

'Who, Kally?'

'Prince Dart, of course!'

'Prince Dart?' Aly repeated, astounded.

'Yes, he said I could call him that because Dartonian was too long and formal for someone so beautiful as me to worry about!'

'A real charmer,' murmured Aly, gazing back at the man in question.

'Oh, Aly he is! Plus he's so handsome, _and_ strong! And did he tell you? -He's trained both as a Copper Islander Knight _and_ as a general of their navy! Ooh, how exciting! He seems so clever, too. And in perfect health and fitness! I wanted to go hunting with him tomorrow- I suppose he likes hunting, since he's so perfect in every other aspect of his character- but silly Prince William has made me promise to spend the morning with _him_!' She pouted; then suddenly her face broke into a smile and her eyes glinted. 'Unless, of course, _you spend the morning with Prince William for me!'_

'I'm sorry Kalasin- I'm busy. But you know, a person doesn't have to like hunting to be perfect. And if hunting with Prince Dartonian is so important, why can't you go in the afternoon?'

'One does not hunt in the afternoon, Aly dear. And what good is a husband who does not enjoy pastimes such as hunting? How then, will he relieve his stress of running a realm? There are some things you will just never understand, Aly dear. I pity you.' The Princess flittered off like an over-admired butterfly. 

'And there are some things _you_ will just never understand, Kally dear. Luckily, I _don't_ pity you.' Retiring to an empty seat and sipping a glass of wine, Aly pondered her upcoming days. They were all very busy. 

When Alianne had arrived at Corus, her intention was to stay only a short while- about two weeks at the most. She had guessed that she would be required to attend some court functions and had realised her friends in the Royal family would want to spend time with her. If her family was in Corus, she had pondered staying slightly longer- now it looked like she didn't have a choice: her schedule was filling up so quickly, at this rate, she'd be in Corus for at least a month. And as she had told Kalasin, she wanted to travel.

Sighing, she looked out across the gold-gilded and highly decorated hall and her eyes caught Jasson's electric blue ones. She smiled at him.

~

She smiled at him. He smiled back. There it was again- that unnerving warmth in his chest. He wasn't supposed to be feeling that at a smile, he was sure. He held her eyes for a moment longer; eventually she blushed slightly and averted her eyes. 

Jasson sighed. What was wrong with him anyway? When he had heard Alianne was coming home after eight long years, he had been understandably excited. She had been his childhood friend that had always understood him so well. But upon seeing her that first moment, she had seemed much more than just a dear friend. He had felt an undeniable impulse to hug her in front of the whole court and since he had accepted that impulse, had found a lot more impulses cropping up. 

It had been an impulse yesterday to go to her rooms and an impulse to ask her to dinner. That last impulse had fallen through thanks to Thom but Jasson actually felt relief that a romantic meal had not taken place. He could not be feeling emotions for his childhood friend, especially not so quickly. It was just lust.

_And lust with a solid foundation, he told his thoughts, remembering her last night in her shift and over-robe. The decent part of him- and the sensible part- had screamed to get out of there but he had just taken in the sight of her with an unforgivable thirst. Yes, she was beautiful- but the beauty she owned could easily be missed. Unlike court beauties, you had to catch her at the right moment, or else the look of disinterest spoilt her fine features and rich hair. _

_Gods above, I have to quench this! It made no sense to him that he suddenly felt this great desire. He assumed it was for the very reason he probably shouldn't like her: because she was unlike court ladies. As he had said to her that first evening, it was not wise for a Royal to take interest in the wrong type of women. He could probably have any of the women at court he wanted- Mithros knows, he had in the past. But maybe that was why he wanted Alianne. How many times had he had a restless, lonely night while the woman at his side slept peacefully? He couldn't take his eyes off her..._

He had to stop this! He had to show himself this was just lust. He couldn't let it get the better of him. 

He stood up, nearly knocking the glass of wine by his hand in his absent-mindedness.

~

Alianne looked up in surprise. Jasson was standing in front of her and she hadn't even noticed him rise from his lonely seat, she had been so preoccupied with her thoughts. She had come to a decision: tonight would be the last time she would live in the past; from now on she would not mope in memories of yesterday but look forward to the thoughts of tomorrow. She would live in the future. Tonight would be the beginning- the birth- of her new life.

Aly smiled at the Prince; he smiled back. 'Would you like to dance with me, Aly?'

She could put up a protest like she had the other night. She could, but where was the point? - Just like two nights ago, she would eventually accept him. 

'Aly?'

She smiled up at him. 'Of course, Jas. Of course I'll dance with you.' She stood and let him guide her. She expected to enjoy this dance a lot more than her last one with Prince Dartonian. 

However, that expectation was not fulfilled. Prince Jasson seemed nervous and even upset about something and was becoming more strained as the dance progressed. Hard as she tried, Aly could not get him to talk more than a couple of sentences at once and the conversation was so dry she soon stopped all attempts. 

Retiring to the sidelines afterwards, Alianne realised with some amazement that she had enjoyed dancing with Prince Jasson little more than with Prince Dartonian. Jas stayed by her side, drinking his wine and occasionally trying to make small talk. She was wondering just how she could escape this awkwardness when her hopes dropped to the bottom of her delicate dancing slippers: Prince Dartonian was pointedly making his way towards her.

She told herself she was just being silly- why would he come to _her_? Especially after their unexciting dance earlier. She was just being paranoid- wanting too much to escape from all Royalty tonight. But however much she convinced herself otherwise, she couldn't escape the truth. And the truth was Prince Dartonian was now standing in front of her, bowing ever so slightly.

Blushing, Aly curtsied. What in all the realms did he want? And by the Goddess, why had Jasson tensed tenfold the moment Prince Dartonian had joined them? She didn't understand Jas tonight.

'Tiger. I would... be pleased if you would dance with me again.' 

_Well, that was a bit more civil than last time, she told herself as she accepted, ignoring Jasson's icy stare. However, they had not been long on the dance floor before Prince Dartonian started questioning her again._

'I've already asked you before about Shang, yet I did not find your answers satisfactory,' he commented. 'I do not see how you can all be skilled in every form of fighting, able to pick up any weapon and be perfect with it.'

She laughed. 'I think you exaggerate slightly, your Highness. Yes, we are skilled in many different types of fighting and many different weapons but we're by no means perfect withal of these. Well, maybe the top Shang warriors like the late Shang Dragon Liam Ironarm are but not me,' she corrected.

'Hmmph. You answers continue to be unsatisfactory, Tiger. Two days ago you said that the top teachers trained you. Are you taught by one teacher or a separate one for each different skill? For how long do you have to train to become Shang?'

Aly was not very happy at imparting all this knowledge to such an arrogant man, but her earlier conversation with Alanna and Raoul was at the forefront of her mind. She had to do whatever this man asked, tell him whatever he wanted to know. 

'At first, you are only trained by one Shang warrior. Once you have reached a certain point in your skill, your lessons are separated even more, until you are taught by the best for each different type of fighting. Total length of training depends on each individual. For me, it was only eight years. For others, it can be much longer.'

'And how are the names decided?'

Aly frowned. This was too much! She was about to refuse him this knowledge when a hair-raising cry of pain hallowed from the other end of the hall. The musicians faltered, but continued to play as trained. However, everyone had stopped and turned to watch. Aly could feel the tense warmth of Prince Dartonian at her back.

Daine had been the one to scream the horrible '_No!!!' _Now the Wild Mage was rushing across the room, apparently oblivious to all.

'Daine!' cried Numair- her betrothed- taking a step in her direction. She had already reached the window, and took a flying leap out of it. Luckily it was already open, but Alianne winced anyway- had the woman forgotten she was pregnant?

Numair was half way across the ballroom, his face desperate, when a teenager stumbled through the open door, panting and clutching his chest. Numair stopped, hesitating. The teenager- obviously a stable boy from his attire- limped as quick as he could across the room, collapsing onto his knees in front of the Royal thrones. Queen Thayet had leapt up at Daine's anguished cry; Jon sat erect and alert in his seat.

'Your Majesties,' the stable boy gasped. 'Forgive me...'

'What is it?' demanded King Jonathan. 'What's happened?'

The boy stuttered between gasps, causing Jon to frown in puzzlement. Out of the corner of his blue eye, he caught an image of the tall Numair clambering through the window Daine had disappeared through. 

'An attack... your Majesties... on... on... your Maj-'

'Forget that,' ordered Jon. _'What was it?'_

'An attack... your... on... the stables... forgive me... Sire... I tried to hold... them off... but... so strong... so strong... forgive me... the horses...'

Jon saw Alanna hovering just a few paces away, almost hopping from foot to foot. He looked back to the boy on his red carpet and saw the problem- blood was trickling thickly through the boy's fingers. 

'_Alanna!' Jon roared, standing up and realising now why she was hovering so close. She was at the boy's side immediately, catching his head as he crumpled in a pile on the floor. She helped him into a more comfortable position, sending her Gift through him. But she knew it would do no good, it was too late. _

'Those red eyes...' he choked. Alanna hushed him, putting her hand on his forehead. His eyes were rolling up into the back of his head and he shook a little. Then his irregular breathing stopped, and his bloodstained hand slowly slipped from his chest. 

Alanna closed the unfortunate boy's eyes, and looked up at Jon. 'Dead.'

Pandemonium broke out in the ballroom. Females squealed and clutched each other or their partners. Jon set his jaw determinedly. 

'Please- stay calm!' he yelled. He followed this with orders that were immediately seen to. The Royal family and all the Royal guests were gathered together and cocooned with guards. 

Aly was glad the disturbing warmth of Prince Dartonian was now missing, and let her eyes flick quickly and expertly through the crowds. Her heart was beginning to beat more and more ferociously: the courtiers were closing in around her. She took a step backwards and bumped into another group of escorted nobles. As ordered, any knights present were gathering the other guests and chaperoning them out. Aly stepped away from this group and knocked into some twittering ladies. She seemed as encased in courtiers as the Royals were in guards. Breathing rapidly, she pushed her way out of the panicked people, leaning against the wall to catch her breath and regain herself.

King Jonathan's council and advisors had gathered with him and were discussing events heatedly. All other mages were gathered a little way off in another group; Aly could easily see Thom among them. They seemed to be arguing just as much as the others. 

Having successfully evaded the knights and feeling more like herself, Aly made her way towards her parents, as yet unnoticed. Standing behind her Da, he turned to her and rolled his eyes at the indecisive arguing going on. She grinned back at him, and he turned around to add his copper to the discussion.

Aly listened and frowned- absolutely nothing was being decided! They were awful! There was no course of action at all. Disgruntled, she walked across the hall to the group of mages, hoping that they would be better.

Unfortunately, they weren't. In fact, they could have been worse. Some of them were examining the stable boy's body and giving their opinions on how he had died but most of them were Scrying the area for any unusual Immortals or mages. 

Alianne sighed impatiently and walked out into the gardens, pulling slightly at the bodice of her dress. How she wished it was just that bit looser! Absently, she walked down the path and came across the window Daine and Numair had jumped through. It was easily identifiable for the lovers had crushed the plants beneath it. A little frown passed over her face and a moment later, a cheeky smile replaced it.

Quickly, she walked down the path through the gardens, slipping through a door into the stable yards. Stables were managed in small sections- say, a dozen horses in each building; she entered the first one she came too.

Instantly, she knew she was in the right place. It reeked of blood and death. The dozen horses that used to treat this as their loved home lay dead among the hay. It looked as if they had all suffered from the same wound: a knife stab directly to the heart. The stable master lay lifeless too, his own blood draining from his neck to mix with that of his beloved charges. 

Daine knelt on the floor amongst the blood and the gore and the death, sobbing uncontrollably. Numair looked thunderous, standing with his hands raised in front of him, muttering odd words under his breath. A cloak of power enfolded him and he seemed not to have noticed Aly. 

Alianne looked around her, devastated. What did this mean? Who would have done this? And why? The usual risk was the high-bred steeds being stolen or even held to ransom; why would someone go out of their way to murder a dozen horses? What did they gain?

Her quick eyes darted over her surroundings but there were no obvious clues as to who had done this. It seemed the killer had realised the alarm had been sounded- he or she was gone and Aly could hear the horses in the neighbouring stables, obviously full of pain and grief through their connection with Daine but also clearly fully alive.

Once she had taken all this in, Aly hesitantly walked over to Daine and crouched by her side. Awkwardly, she put her arm around the pregnant Wild Mage's shoulders. 

Numair sighed and came out of his trance. 'No luck. Alianne- is that you? Where did you come from?' 

'I was at the ball- I saw everything. The boy is dead. All _they're doing back there is talking. I came to see if there was anything that needed seeing to here.'_

The great Black Robe mage flopped ungracefully onto the floor with another weary sigh. 'That's all they can do. Daine? Sweet, look at me.' She obeyed her lover and he saw the unbridled pain across her features.

'All their pain, Numair,' she choked. 'Their last thoughts and images-' Daine broke off, crumpling against his chest. He held her tight, pulling her onto his lap and muttering soothing noises; Aly moved away.

'Alianne!' cried a voice from behind. It was her mother, Alanna. From the looks of it, she had obviously just run down from the palace ballroom. 'Get away! This is a scene of crime and you're not authorised to be here! What were you thinking of coming here? Go, now!'

'I was only seeing if I could help,' she muttered as she pushed past her mother. Leaving the stables, she saw more members of Jonathan's council rushing down to the area of attention. Turning, Alianne walked in the opposite direction to the ballroom. She followed the path, scowling at the cobbles that gradually degenerated into a dirt track.

Aly loved her mother dearly, but it was just like her to behave that way when all Alianne was trying to do was help. She acted almost as if Aly was a small child misbehaving! Of all people, Alanna should understand how her daughter felt- Aly _knew_ how the Lioness hated to feel helpless! And Aly was just trying to get accepted into the palace life, and prove her worth. She thought she had found her spot in life as the new Tiger at the celebration feast at Shang, and oh! - how she couldn't wait to come home! To _really_ come home at last. 

But she had been wrong. She hadn't yet found that niche she so desired. She was on the pathway- she felt sure of that; but she hadn't included how her friends, family and surroundings might change around her in her own thoughts of happiness.

None the less, she was determined she would not be put off by anyone's actions or words: she would reach her goal. She would find acceptance, happiness and her own spot. The spot that could only be filled by Alianne, Shang Tiger of Pirate's Swoop. And she would enjoy herself doing it.

With a little smile and a determined set to her jaw, she looked up and realised the path had led her towards the Royal forest. There was an uncomfortable chill about the air and she shivered in only her evening gown but continued walking. She glanced quickly around her: no-one was about. Sighing in relief, she undid the top lacings of her bodice, loosening the constricting material across her chest. 

Standing on the outskirts of the forest, she ran a hand over the bark of a tree trunk. It was hard, and rough. That's how she felt fitting in would be: hard and rough but once you had found your slot, you would grow and prosper and learn to be something great and wonderful, living to a ripe old age amongst those of your kind. 

She grinned at her philosophical thinking and stepped back onto the path. It was dark- the weak stars were half hidden by clouds and their light was of little assistance. Aly stumbled on the uneven path in her gown and slippers and caught her foot on a large tree root. 

Falling, she was caught by surprise, and when she tried to land properly and roll over unhurt, she became entangled in the silk skirts of her dress. She hit the ground in a mess; her head fell against a small rock half embedded in the hard packed earth.

Before she could think or react, black nothingness came up around her, swelling and shrinking like a pulsing live-thing. Unable to fight the darkness, it lured Aly inwards, drawing her helpless self to its intoxicating peace.

~

_She was running through a field. The field was full of grass that came up to her elbows. She ran and ran, and her heart was filled with swelling joy because running on either side of her were Thom, Alan, Roald, Kalasin, Liam, Lianne and Jasson. All of them were as happy as she was and were laughing and squealing with pleasure.  Laughter bubbled from her lips, bringing excitement with it. _

_She looked to the sky as she ran. Up there, against the blue perfectness was a little black splodge. At first, she didn't know what it was. Then, as it came into focus, she realised it was a black bird. _

_Suddenly she was up with the bird, soaring through the sky. The wind whistled in her ears and she dipped and rose through the cloudless air. _

_When she looked down, they were above the sea. It sparkled in the early sunlight and invited her to fly low above its cooling waves. She did, and drifted over the deep mysterious blue._

_Suddenly there was a ship in front of her. It was dirty and weatherworn. From the looks of it, it needed much work. The grey sails were not much more than glorified tatters. _

_She rose above the level of the sea, floating across the decks. But next moment she was no longer a bird and was standing on the deck by the main mast. Men lay all around her. Some were injured, most gambled, but almost all were drunk. Everything on deck- men included- were filthy dirty and stinking. _

_Before she could think properly, she was a fish in the sea. She looked up at the ship and saw a black bird flying around the main topgallant and foretopgallant sails. It drifted down to land on the shoulder of a black-haired, black-bearded man standing by the bulwark of the fo'c's'le. The man, his wooden right leg at a crooked angle and an eye patch over his left eye, ran a finger down the bird's back._

_She looked over the hull of the ship. There, down by the stern was a name written in peeling blood-red letters: the Black Falcon._

~


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: Okay, the reason this is late is because I was trying to do the NanoWrimo competition (writing a novel in a month) (visit www.nanowrimo.org for more info!) but I've more or less dropped that now. I couldn't keep myself away from _Stolen Lives_! It's so much fun to write! 

Ok, this chapter: I'm happy cos it's the last of the "introductory" chapters. Ok, the chapter isn't that good but finally I'm getting somewhere! I'm already about a third of the way through chapter five and hopefully now the story's going to start going some places. 

Enjoy!

Stolen Lives 

Part One: Look For The Dark

Chapter Four: Questions Of Sight

Slowly, Alianne began to come around. Her head throbbed something awful. Vaguely, she remembered a dream about a black bird, and pirates. With a groan, she opened her eyes. There was a massive sable horse watching her closely and she nearly screamed. Instead, she put her hand to her head and sat up, eyeing the horse wearily and groaning again. 

'You're awake,' said an austere voice. Aly jumped in surprise, then scowled up at the harsh face peering around the horse. Prince Dartonian's short dark brown hair was flopping across his face and his blue-green eyes looked as dull as always.

'Yes, I am,' she grumbled. 

'Good. I did not want to have to wait much longer.'

Aly didn't reply. She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in the skirts of her dress. She could tell her head was going to throb for a while thanks to that bump last night, and she felt slightly dizzy and disorientated. The last person she wanted to wake up to was Prince Dartonian. She felt like she was her normal anti-morning self, with a sore head and bruised pride to boost; she was angry with herself for having fallen yesterday and for having been caught, and she was frustrated with him for being so uncourteous. She was also tired and uncomfortable- aching all over from having slept on uneven hard earth.

'Are you injured and in need of a healer?' the Prince asked eventually.

Alianne didn't look up. 'No,' she complained. There was another pause.

'Then if you are sure you are not in need of assistance, I will be leaving. I have much business that needs taking care of.'

'Of course, your Highness,' Aly whispered acidly, climbing to her feet with a wobble. He turned his horse around as if to go but looked back over his shoulder.

'You know, I would have thought it was dangerous enough to sleep outside, in the cold, alone and unprotected. However, I'm guessing it must be twice as perilous incompletely dressed.' 

Aly looked sharply at his face and could have sworn that she saw- for a flickering moment- a ghost of a smile light his features. But it was gone before she had seen it properly and his eyes darted down to her chest and back to her face again. Slowly catching on, Alianne peered down at herself. 

Her bodice was half undone. 

She had forgotten how she had loosened the lacings last night before she had tripped. Turning red, she crossed her arms over her chest. At least she wasn't yet revealing anything indecent.

Prince Dartonian gave her a slight nod of his head and rode off. She glared at his retreating back.

'Stupid arrogant son of a-' Aly muttered to herself, cutting the oath short. Her fingers tugged with frustration at the lacings, re-tying her bodice. 'Couldn't even offer a girl a ride back to the palace. _Are you in need of a healer?' she mocked to herself, wandering deeper into the Royal forest. She wasn't ready to go back to the palace and face the bustling noise yet. Neither her head nor her temper would stand that._

'He must have been watching me asleep.' She shivered. 'And he must have been looking at my chest to notice that my bodice was undone, that great perverted old--' _Hang on_, said that other side of her. That _annoying_ side of her that always seemed to be right and spoil everything._ He **warned** you about your top in a nice enough kind of way. In a way that wouldn't make things too embarrassing for either of you. Maybe he was trying to point it out to you so that you didn't go wandering around Corus with your breasts gradually falling out of your bodice. Maybe, in some way, he was trying to be helpful._

Alianne glared at her own thoughts. Dartonian was _not_ helpful. Dartonian was annoying, arrogant, scornful, conceited, irritating- _and strangely interesting, cut off that same said part of her mind._

'_What?' Aly exclaimed out loud. She had come to a clearing in the forest and sat down on the grass, removing her evening slippers to dabble her toes in the water that bubbled slowly through. It was ice cold, but strangely soothing._

_He's got some kind of odd interest to him. Because it's almost like- in some way- he's hiding something from you. That's the best way you can describe it at the moment. Every time you see and speak with him, you feel like he's keeping something hidden. And your Sight doesn't like him, does it? It won't work around him. Why not? Why does he confuse your magic? And why do you feel something akin to repulsion at any hint of you being in his life, previously or presently?** Why don't you like him?**_

'Why do I have to think such disturbing thoughts is more to the point!' cried Alianne, clutching clumps of her hair. 'Crooked God, you would think I secretly held some attraction to this _Prince_ from the way my thoughts run! As if trying to convince myself that really I want to get to know him better! Well, I don't want _anything more to do with the man. And that's __final.'_

Grumpily, Aly got up and splashed her face and neck with the cold water. It helped a little to clear her headache and slight dizziness. However, she still didn't want to face the walk back to the palace. It wasn't that far- it just seemed terribly unwelcome when your head hurt and your body ached. 

With a sigh, Alianne lay down upon the grass and stared up at the sky through the leaves. The dappled sunlight fell gently on her skin but had little warmth at this time in the morning. It wasn't long before her eyelids began to droop. She touched a hand to her neck- yes; the pendant her mother had given her was still there. She smiled. It was almost like having a small part of her mother with her. Aly knew the Goddess had given the necklace to Alanna and that she had worn it while growing up disguised as a boy. It meant a lot to Alianne that her mother would give her something that obviously had such sentimental value to it. 

Her eyes were shut and her mind was beginning to drift. She remembered with a smile, the silly little dream she had had last night. She could guess it was induced by her conversation with Prince Dartonian earlier in the evening. So he was even beginning to affect her nightly unconsciousness now! Oh, she certainly didn't like him.

That was her last coherent thought before she slipped into a dreamless sleep beneath the green trees and the blue sky. 

Alianne woke later that morning, her stomach rumbling with hunger. Her head felt better, but she still throbbed all over. As before, she crouched beside the rambling brook and washed her face. The walk back to the palace was far more acceptable now, and she set off, gently finger-combing her hair and carrying her dancing slippers. 

Entering one of the many palace courtyards, Aly frowned. Usually the place was busy, people rushing back and forth with duties; today it was _heaving and the air was _thick_. Something was wrong. Aly wasn't the daughter of the ex-King of Thieves for nothing: she listened intently as she passed groups, and her eyes darted everywhere, picking up on tiny little details in people's behaviour._

Finally she gathered what everyone was in uproar about: the butchery last night. The second night of the Prince of the Copper Isles' presence and already a dozen of King Jonathan's best bred horses dead. Aly had fair forgotten about it, what with her pounding head, taut muscles and Prince Dartonian's unwanted morning welcome.

It surprised her how the people of Tortall immediately put blame on the Copper Islander. It just showed to her how insecure the commoners really were and how much distrust they honoured the foreigners with. King Jon might believe he had the realm under control but Aly thought otherwise. Her lifestyle as Shang gave her an advantage: she might understand politics but she didn't have to follow them, or social positioning. She could move just as freely through commoners as she could nobles, yet was not blinded by as much prejudice as most. She saw what many overlooked. 

However, she thought it a bit extreme to blame Prince Dartonian so intensely so soon, even with her dislike of the man. Wondering if some condemning evidence had been found and the Prince would be removed from her life forever more, Aly peered through the people for some official she knew. Someone like her parents, or Grandda, or Raoul, Gary or Numair- they would be able to tell her what the current situation was.

But she saw no-one important looking, not even one of the younger Royal children who, she gathered, were often hiding amongst the workers in the courtyards, pretending to oversee events.

Aly's stomach rumbled, reminding her she was hungry and hadn't eaten since early evening yesterday. As if hearing her thoughts, the palace bell chimed the midday hour, calling out for the midday meal. Smiling, Aly let herself get caught in the crowds suddenly streaming for the palace mess halls. She would eat lunch away from nobility, steaming in her dislike of Dartonian and then seek someone out- someone like Daine.

~

Lunch had been a quiet affair for Alianne; sitting in the midst of tables enveloped in warm chatter and heart-filled laughter. She had sat by herself on the edge of a table, for once enjoying being alone in such a busy place. She wanted time to her thoughts.

Now lunch was over, and she was heading to her rooms to change. Her head was still a bit sore but she generally felt better for having eaten. 

Approaching her door, she sought her key in the folds of dress with a yawn. She definitely needed to get out of this goddamned ball gown!  Having found the key, she shoved it in the door and opened it with a thrust. She took one step inside and looked straight into a bubble of thick purple mist. 

The little cloud was advancing towards her. Frowning Aly ducked as it came right up to her. It was only about the size of her head and hovered at eye level. It stopped right in front of her and a voice began to emanate from the mist. 

Aly smiled as she recognised the voice. The skull-sized cloud must be a talking spell of some kind, set to activate when she came through the door—it was Thom's voice coming from it.

'Alianne! You're back! I came visiting this morning but you weren't around... Could you visit me this afternoon, my dearest sister? I'll be in the private Dean's library from an hour after midday.' 

Thom's voice faded, and slowly the smoke dissipated too. Aly grinned at her brother as she slipped into a warm, relaxing bath. Once she had finished soaking and soothing her sore muscles she changed into an earth-green homespun wool gown and left her hair to fall down her back. 

The Dean's private library was not restricted to the Dean of the University- it was only the name given to the small collection of books. True, Harailt of Aili held the only key and technically mages were the only other people allowed in there, but as an invited guest of a mage working and training under the Dean's watchful eye, Alianne could enter without worry.

The library was not large, but was situated on one of the highest levels of the palace, meaning there was a wonderful _relaxing_ view from the windows.

Entering the room, Alianne was filled with a sense of peace, well-being and a general contentness. Thom stood across the room, an open book balanced on one palm, deep in discussion with the most powerful mage of the realm: Numair Salmalín. Aly had to smile- the two men were nearly the same height, Thom being only a handful of inches shorter. Pure black hair rivalled bold emerald green, and it seemed the two mages were wrapped up in a heavy debate.

Something made Thom glance up, looking in her direction. Seeing his sister, he smiled broadly. 'Alianne! Come in, come in!'

Alianne smiled at her brother as she received a greeting from Numair. She returned the welcome, coming to stand beside the two men. Thom snapped his book shut and thumped it down on the table.

'Numair, is it too… _improper_ for me to ask why you're here and not working on what happened last night?' Aly asked. 'Everyone outside seems panicked about it.'

The realm's most powerful mage sighed. 'They have good reason to be so worried. I've been working all morning with some of Tortall's best mages and we've discovered nothing. I need a break- there's only so much you can do in one go. Plus your brother needed his lesson and I agreed to help Harailt research an ancient Immortal.'

'Now Aly, you're probably wondering why we've asked to see you,' Thom started. Aly shrugged, knowing he would say what he wanted to regardless of her answer. 'First, let us briefly explain this room.'

'Thom, its a library. I'm not _that_ stupid.'

'Yes, but what is it a library _for_?' he asked.

'Books?' teased Aly.

'Aly, this library contains books on magic- different magics and their uses. It also contains books on Immortals, since they are connected to us via magic, and some scripts on the Gods,' Numair said. 

'What does this have anything do to with me? I'm Shang,' Aly questioned, already fearing she knew the answer.

'You might be Shang, but you also have the Sight,' elaborated Numair.

'Ma and Pa have been talking to me, Aly,' Thom added in a sensible voice. _This sounded ominous, Aly thought. 'And I agree with them for once. You might be skilled in the ways of self-defence, but you need to learn to use your Sight to its full potential. You know the Sight is a gift from the Gods, and we should use all of our blessings.'_

'So what do you three propose?' Aly folded her hands across her chest, bracing herself for the inevitable reply.

'We propose to have you taught,' answered Thom with a beaming grin.

She sighed. 'Thom, Da was never taught and he's fine.'

'But Da was young in an earlier generation to you- everything was different! The political situation of Tortall, for one, was hugely different to what it is now. And he lived a very different lifestyle to you.'

'Not that different.'

Thom gave her a light glare. 'And Grandmother Eleni would have taught him all he needed to know as he grew up.'

'Well, Da did that with me.'

'Aly! Da only taught you a few essential guidelines.'

'Thom's right, Alianne,' rejoined Numair. He had drawn a book from a shelf and had been flicking idly through the pages. Now he stopped, and offered the open book to Aly. 'The Sight, if properly used, can help you in your chosen lifestyle.'

Aly took the offered book and looked at the open page. There were diagrams of the human form with ovals of different colours radiating from the heart outwards, representing a person's aura. There were more diagrams to show how these could be detected by different strengths of the Sight.

'You can use the Sight,' Numair continued, 'To tell when an enemy is around the corner, waiting for you. With a Sight as potent as yours, you can likely sneak partially into their minds, with the ability to determine their current emotions, identities and even maybe disjointed thoughts.' Aly raised her eyebrows at him, partly sceptical, partly amazed. 'There are different types of Sight though, just like there are different versions of the Gift. Those with the Sight are often referred to as "Seers" but this is quite an inaccurate generalisation. Its true that those possessing the Sight do _See what others cannot but all to a personal degree and of a variation of methods.'_

Inwardly Aly sighed. This sounded too much like a university lecture to her and she struggled to keep her mind on Numair's words.

'Some people See through aura's like that book is showing you.' Aly looked again at the pictures with their radiating colours. 'They sense forthcoming events- or See glimpses of these- through the emotions they gather when studying someone's aura. Other people can only use their Sight to sharpen their natural vision, so they can See objects far past any other person's natural sight. This can be useful when watching for approaching enemies- or friends.

'Some people can sense who is around them by body heat, and surrounding magic. Others can use their Sight to conjure up mind images- sometimes even mind links- between people miles apart.

'Then there are the variations of Visionaries. This strain of the Sight allows the owner to be skilled in visions. I say skilled...' Numair sighed. 'Visions cannot be brought on, cannot be controlled. They cannot be demanded and cannot be rejected. But they are painful to be experienced- they wear the body out mentally, and physically. Depending on the vision, depends on the type of reaction the body will have. Recipients of visions have been known to be physically wounded. But those with the particular strain of Sight to receive these visions have a certain... immunity to the power and pain of the visions that others lack. 

'The visions can be witnessed in a number of ways. Some Visionaries only receive a sense of impending danger, forthcoming fortune or such like- often by way of colours. Other Visionaries receive short, sharp visions when they touch certain objects or pass certain obstacles in their life. Some See visions in their dreams. Others see them as a memory of someone else- often while they are sleeping. As you can see, there are many strains of the Sight- and I haven't even mentioned them all- each with their own special advantages. As Thom said, it would be unwise to neglect a gift from those above us and imagine how it may benefit your skills as a Shang, as a warrior, as a woman of the realm.'

Aly's brows jumped up close to her hairline. 'I'm _not_ a woman of the realm. I mean to travel, to learn the ways first-hand of the other realms, not via textbooks. I mean to be a free woman.' However, her mind played over the possibilities Numair had presented. That last example- of Seeing people's memories through her dreams- was for some reason particularly interesting to Alianne, and she turned and twisted the idea in her mind.

'Aly, think of Ma and Pa,' interjected Thom. 'You've been gone for eight years, doing what _you_ wanted to do. They had no objection to your sudden longing to be trained as a Shang warrior and you left pretty quickly. They gather that you can protect yourself well enough, since you have gained a title but they want you to learn all your abilities to your full extent. They _want_ you to do this. Can't you do it for them? It won't tie you down here, it'll only be lessons while you stay or visit Corus.'

Aly pursued her lips, unconvinced. She was still prodding that thought, trying to shape it into a key to unlock depths of her unconsciousness.

'I will be teaching you Aly,' rejoined Numair, now flicking through another book. 

Suddenly, she got a flash of a couple of nights ago. She was standing next to the window of her palace rooms, pulling the drapes across the gap. Another flash, showing her moments before this scene: she was in bed, but she was dreaming. She was dreaming she was a little boy, and she was dreaming everything from the child's own perspective. Like it was a memory of someone else- _the little boy's memory. Frowning, Aly thought back. That was four nights ago- the night she had returned to Corus. She had completely forgotten about the dream until now._

Alianne turned back to Numair and Thom, both of whom were watching her patiently, waiting. 'I'll think about it,' she said eventually. The idea of her Sight being used to help her fighting went utterly against her Shang training but she could also understand Thom's words. Now, with the realisation that she might already have had a vision, she decided she ought to think seriously about this. But, she thought, Numair had said visions were painful and exhausting- yet she had only felt _odd_ after her dream.

As she turned to leave the library, Numair called out, 'Well don't think too long or I'll never fit you in to my new teaching schedule! And I just hope you're not as damn annoying as your brother!'

Smiling, Aly waved goodbye and began to traipse the corridors of the palace without any real destination. Tomorrow, she would go back to the Dean's library and look at the books on the shelf Numair had pulled the aura one from. Maybe she could just do her own research and not need any lessons from Black Robe Mages.

'Aly!'

The Tiger turned to see who had called out her name. Lianne ran down the corridor, smiling, her cobalt blue silk dress swishing wildly at her hurried movements. Aly returned the smile and waited for her friend to meet her.

'Oh, Aly I've just _got_ to show you something! Where have you been? I've been trying to find you to show you them- oh, I do hope they're still there!'

Laughing, Aly put her hands on her friend's shoulders. 'Anne, calm down. You're so excited! Now tell me quietly, who do you want to show me to?'

Lianne's blue eyes gleamed as she grabbed hold of Alianne's hand. 'Come see!' she cried, and began to drag the younger girl away. Aly laughed and let the Princess lead her. Twisting down corridors and through courtiers, they soon came to a balcony. Lianne shooed Aly out and shut the doors behind her.

Warily taking in her surroundings, Alianne walked to the edge of the balcony and lightly rested her fingertips on the railings. The balcony overlooked part of the Royal gardens. 

'Do you see them?' hissed Lianne, coming up beside her.

'See _who_?' Aly demanded.

The Princess sighed impatiently. 'Kalasin and the Prince.'

Aly looked back out over the gardens. There were a few small groups of people moving through the paths and alleys, and in the furthest corner sat an ornately dressed and decorated group of ladies. A broad-shouldered, dark-haired man stood in front of the women; and attendants waited behind the benches for orders. Annoyed, Aly realised she would be able to recognise Prince Dartonian from a much greater distance than this, simply because she disliked him so much. She scowled at him and those he was entertaining. 

'_Now do you see them?' inquired Anne._

Just then, Prince Dartonian turned and plucked a rose from a nearby bush and presented it to Princess Kalasin. The ladies' twitters reached Aly's ears, and she scowled.

'I see them all right,' she answered. 

Lianne looked at her friend with mild curiosity. Finally she said, 'You don't like him, do you?'

Pretending an air of innocence, Aly looked at the Princess. 'Who, your Highness?'

'Don't play games with me, Aly. You know who I mean.' Aly raised an eyebrow and her friend sighed. 'Prince Dartonian!'

'Oh, _him_,' replied Aly nonchalantly. 'No, I don't like him.'

'I didn't think so,' commented Lianne proudly. 'Why ever not? He's only been here... four days. How can you have such a strong opinion so soon?'

Aly continued to watch the figures in the garden, her purple-blue eyes narrowing. 'I'm not sure, I just do.'

'But _why_ don't you like him?' Lianne persisted.

'I just don't. He just riles me. There's something... not quite _right about him.'_

Lianne sighed. 'Don't tell me you believe he ordered the murder of those horses too? Half the place has gone mad over it!'

Aly looked at her friend, an eyebrow raised. 'And you don't think it's worrying?'

'Well, _yes_ but I think everyone's making _too much fuss over it. Panic doesn't help anyone. And I don't believe Prince Dartonian had anything to do with it either.'_

Aly gazed back out to the man and the women, their laughter again floating across the wind. 'They obviously don't think he's a murderer either.'

'Aly, if you remember Prince Dartonian was dancing with _you when the crime took place so he couldn't have done it himself. And no, Princess Kalasin doesn't believe he had anything to do with it.'_

'What about the other women?'

'They're Kally's ladies-in-waiting- with matters such as these, they must believe what Kally does.' Aly raised her eyebrows at this, but said nothing, continuing to watch those in question. 'Kalasin really likes Prince Dartonian.'

At first Alianne said nothing. Then, 'How _much_ does she really like him?'

Anne shrugged. 'She just keeps talking about him to me, and she moaned about how she wanted to go hunting with him this morning but had already promised her time to some other Prince or something.'

'Yes, I had that too. She even tried to boot Prince William off on to me.'

'And she was supposed to be meeting Mother this afternoon but she cancelled it so that she could spend time with Prince Dartonian.'

'Poor Thayet,' mumbled Aly.

'But I can quite understand her attraction to him, can't you?'

'What do you mean?' Aly asked slowly.

'Well, for a start he's handsome. And have you seen the way his arms fill his sleeves and shoulders fill his tunics?- A sure sign of strong muscles.' Aly grinned. 'And have you noticed his eyes? They're almost like the colour of the sea- so attractive! He seems quite intellectual too, which is good since I can't _stand stupid men. And did Kalasin tell you, he's the Copper Isles equivalent of a knight __and a general of their navy!'_

'Yes, she told me,' Aly said with a grin. 

'So I can definitely understand why Kally would be attracted to him, can't you?'

'I suppose so,' agreed Aly unenthusiastically. 

Lianne laughed. 'Aly, you're still just as non-committal about men as always. Don't you wish you could find true love?'

Aly turned away from the gardens and smiled at her friend. 'And beneath that façade you're still as romantic as before.' She sighed and looked off into the distance. 'Doesn't everyone want love?'

'Aly, that's avoiding my question! Do _you_ want true love? Do you want to settle down- to marry, and have children?'

'Anne, I've only just achieved my title. It's like Mother gaining her shield. I want to _live_ a little first. Live before I think anything about love, or romance, or marriage, or pregnancy.'

'But,' interjected Anne slyly. 'Doesn't love make life worth living?'

'No!' exclaimed Aly, wiggling a hand emphatically. 'What about other things? Adventure, mystery, travels, battles- they make life worth living too!'

'But could you do it all knowing no form of love? So without having had friends, short romances with boys that _adored_ you- without having known _family_.'

Aly jutted her chin out. 'How can I answer that?'

'Exactly. All your life you've been surrounded in love and all you want to do is travel and _fight_.'

'Anne, are you getting cross with me?'

The Princess sighed and hung her head. 'No. I guess- I guess I just _envy you.'_

Aly frowned. 'But why? You've had love all your life too-'

'But not like you. For a start, look at your parents.'

'Anne, you know as much as I do that my mother was hardly around when I grew up.'

'But she loved you so much. And the pure love and tenderness between Alanna and George...' She sighed again.

'Your parents love each other and you.'

'I know. I'm just being stupid. Envying you for the fact you've been encased in such potent love since you were born, yet you can still escape.' Aly's brow creased. 'And still you don't seem to realise the true value of everything you travel away from. And _still_ you don't long to find more love- love for yourself like your parents share.'

Aly sighed. 'Lianne, this is too deep for me now. Can't we just go back onto a lighter subject?'

The Princess laughed a little. 'You never liked to talk about those things close to your heart, did you? Okay, let's talk about the Prince again.'

Alianne groaned. 'Anything but him!'

As Lianne laughed, there was a knock on the door behind them and a young handmaid entered at Anne's beckon. 

Curtsying, she said, 'Her Highness Princess Kalasin requests your appearance in the gardens your Highness, Lady Alianne.'

Lianne thanked the girl and she scuttled off. 'Well, this sounds like fun,' said the Princess. Aly just raised her eyebrows and allowed her friend to lead the way.

~

'There you are!' cried Kalasin from her lounging position on the bench as Aly and Anne arrived. 'I could see you watching me from that balcony!' She laughed, and her ladies anxiously twittered in reply.

'We were appreciating the beauty of the gardens,' replied Lianne. This made Kalasin laugh even more.

'And let me guess, your conclusion was that _I_ was the most beautiful thing currently residing in it?'

Lianne scowled. 'Actually, we- well, _I_- thought that Prince Dartonian far surpassed even _you, your Highness.'_

Aly tensed. Those were not good words! Kally would not be pleased! She wondered what Dartonian's reaction would be. She had kept her gaze carefully diverted from him all the time she had been standing there. He was standing not too far away from her- and she could sense him tense at Lianne's words too. She couldn't get the thoughts of this morning out of her mind. How embarrassing to have been caught like that by him!

There was a short spell of silence. 

Finally, the Prince said, 'Surely you are mistaken your Highness. Princess Kalasin is by far the most gorgeous flower in all of Tortall.' Lianne smiled, and winked at Aly; the other ladies fluttered their fans and tittered. Kalasin blushed. However, Aly thought those words had a touch of falseness to them- as if he was only saying them to make peace again. But she shrugged that off. That was ridiculous. He was a Prince- he was used to this type of thing! And he would be far used to saying slight untruths for political reasons.

'Oh, Prince Dart, you flatter me! You know flattery will get you no where.' Kalasin looked seductively over the edge of her fan as she spoke.

'If your Highness is sure,' he replied.

'Quite.' Kalasin seemed to have a change of heart and suddenly stared at Aly. She pouted- a most un-princess like action, thought Alianne. 'Aly, why do you wear such a common dress as homespun wool? It's not on! I have plenty of silk, satin and cotton gowns you can have.'

Aly coloured slightly, not expecting the attack on her attire. 'I am quite comfortable with simplicity, your Highness.'

'Nonsense. Prince Dart, don't you think she'd look _twelve_ times better in a beautiful silken gown? With a little embroidery around the hems perhaps.'

Even more uncomfortable now, Aly looked to the Prince. As their eyes met, she was sure she saw something flash in his blue-green orbs momentarily. Then his gaze became steely, and he scrutinised her form.

Finally he turned back to Kalasin and said, 'Your Highness, judging suitable fashions for young ladies is not my strong point.'

She laughed. 'Never mind. Aly- visit my seamstress tomorrow morning and she'll sort something out for you.'

'Kalasin,' began Alianne as the Princess turned away. 'I mean, your _Highness, I do _not_ wish for your cast-me-downs. Thank you for the offer.' Lianne elbowed her. _

'_Leave it,' she hissed, and her sister ignored them, beginning to talk again with Prince Dartonian._

'Good afternoon, your Highness's, ladies,' said Jasson bowing respectively and making everyone jump. They welcomed him in return. 'Would it trouble you greatly, Highness if I speak quietly with Lady Alianne?'

'No, take her away if you desire,' said Kalasin disinterestedly.

Jasson came to Aly's side and glared at Lianne until she left them alone. He bowed to her but she clasped her hands behind her back before he could kiss her fingers. 

'Aly, how lovely to see you enjoying the gardens.'

'Jasson, you know I hate all this formality junk.'

'Okay, I'll stop.'

'And cut to the chase,' she interjected with a smile, knowing him too well.

'Fine, I was wondering if... well, if you were- you know, busy tonight?'

'Not as far as I know. Why?' Aly's brow creased in puzzlement. 

'You see I wondered if perhaps, maybe, there was- um, something you might want to do? You know, like go out for dinner perhaps?'

'Dinner? That would be great.'

His face lit up spectacularly. 'Really? Great! I'll meet you-' he glanced at the sky- 'in four hours?'

'Sure. Thanks Jas.'

'My pleasure.' He bowed to her again, and made to make his leave but she called out to him.

'Oh, and Jas? Are you sure you're okay?'

He flushed slightly. 'I'm fine, Aly. Absolutely wonderful. See you tonight.'

'Bye.' She frowned at his retreating figure as he wandered down a pathway.

'I've never seen Jas so flustered around a woman before,' Lianne remarked thoughtfully over Aly's shoulder.

The younger girl raised an eyebrow. '_What_ are you insinuating?'

'Nothing, nothing, my dear; absolutely _nothing_ at all.'

Kalasin burst into hysterics and the girls whipped their heads around. Prince Dart was smiling down at his listener. 

'Oh, Aly- Aly, you've just got to hear this!' cried Kalasin. 'Come here! _Come here, and listen to Prince Dart.'_

With a small smile at her old friend's antics, Aly went to her side. Lianne stayed where she was and gazed thoughtfully at the path her brother had ambled down. Then she peered over at Alianne, standing between the Prince and Princess. Realisation dawned, and dispelled the clinging cobwebs; Princess Lianne smiled to herself.

~

'Well, thank you Jasson for a lovely evening,' Aly said, opening her door.

'My pleasure. Thank you for coming.' He just stood there. Aly gazed at him.

Eventually she said, 'Jas I would invite you in but I'm really tired and I've got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I'm sorry. Thank you again.'

The Prince looked a bit dejected but he smiled anyway and said his final goodnights. With a troubled sigh, Aly shut the door. She did not want to know what might have happened if she had invited him in! Throwing her shoes off, she thought back over the night.

She had thought it was going to be great fun but Jasson was in another of his skittish moods. He had been hard to talk too and not much fun the entire time. He had crazy moments when he started acting like he was out courting some precious courtier's daughter- at one point Aly thought he was going to start spurting poetry to her! All the time she had wondered what was wrong with him, also pondering the true meaning of Lianne's last words.

The thought had crossed her mind that perhaps- just maybe- he thought of her in a more than friendly manner, but she discarded that. He couldn't. He just couldn't. They were friends- _close_ friends. 

Aly groaned. The whole evening had been a total washout for her. Now, all she wanted was her bed! Snuggling between the sheets, a little thought crept into her mind: at least she wouldn't wake up to Prince Dartonian tomorrow morning! At least, she would be very surprised if she did. Smiling at the image of him trying to explain to Kalasin exactly _what _he was doing in Alianne's bedroom at the crack of dawn, she drifted off to sleep.

~

_The darkness was thick- it enfolded her and was nearly suffocating her. Just when she thought she would scream, it loosened and a figure came slowly walking towards her. She waited and the person caught up with her. It was Prince Jasson._

_'Aly,' he said, holding out a rose to her. 'Would you like to, er, go to- umm, dinner with me tonight, perhaps?'_

_'No!' yelled another voice- a harsh, firm voice. A voice you didn't disobey. Aly turned around; behind her stood Prince Dartonian. 'No!' he cried again. 'She's coming with **me! ****We're going to hunt out the Black Falcon and shoot him like the bird he's known for!'**_

_'What?' exclaimed Aly, but they were heedless of her attempts. They shouted at each other and floated closer and closer together. She was caught between them and couldn't get out... They came closer... they were constricting her, squashing her, giving her no room to move... She couldn't breath. All she could hear was their shouts above her. She cowered and wrapped her arms over her head… **praying.**_

~

Coming up in Chapter Five:

Two weeks later...

Aly's plans for future travelling are presently dashed as she is called before Tortall's reigning monarchs.

"Do you agree?" demanded King Jonathan.

"Yes, I agree," Aly replied.

"Then sign here." The King held out a parchment and a quill. Aly crossed the room and took hold of the quill. Taking a deep breath, she scrawled her name on the legal document.

Prince Jasson is less than happy at the news of what Aly has agreed to. Thom is also brought before the King and Queen.

                the real story begins to unfold.....

See you soon!

_~Fyre Thief_


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: Hi! This is part of my Christmas pressie to you guys, my wonderful reviewers! See how much I care about you? Unfortunately, this chappie is not quite as good as I hoped because I had a shortage of entertainment ideas for Princey and I needed a scene with Finn. But now I'm back on track and rearing to go!  

Stolen Lives

Part One: Look For The Dark

Chapter Five: Bound for Life  

Two weeks ago she had come to Corus to visit her friends and relatives after eight years of merciless Shang training. Now, Alianne Cooper of Pirate's Swoop- the Shang Tiger, was standing in front of the King and Queen of the realm and their eldest daughter, utterly unawed by the splendour of the Throne room.

'Please run this by me one more time,' Aly requested.

Queen Thayet sighed. 'I don't see what is so difficult to understand. As potential suitors of our daughter, all the visiting Princes must get to know an associate of ours. That way we can learn about them from someone other than the Princess.'

'I completely understand this part, your Majesties,' said Aly. 'I understand all the political advantages too.'

'Then what do you not comprehend?' demanded the King.

'Why _I'm here.'_

'Well isn't that obvious? You are to be an associate of ours,' stated Thayet.

'Aly,' Kalasin started, standing up, 'I already have a preference over my suitors. Unfortunately, I have to give all the Princes a "fair chance at winning my hand". But I want someone special- someone I can trust whole-heartedly- not some nameless Royal servant to watch over the man I particularly like.'

_Oh no, thought Aly. _I can see where this is going and I don't like it- I don't like it one bit. _She began to fidget and tried to think of ways she could delay the Princess saying what she inevitably would. _

'But why me?' Aly asked. 'Why am I that "special someone"?'

'I've known you all my life, Aly,' replied Kalasin. 'We've been friends all that time. I _knowyou; I know you would do this for me- as a favour for a friend. And we can trust you to look after yourself and be able to spot anything serious- any problems, or any advantages. You understand politics somewhat and war. You know Tortall's history too. But most importantly because you are still my friend today.'_

_Am I? Sometimes, it doesn't seem like it, **your Highness.**_

Aly sighed. 'You have left me little room for excuses, your Highness.'

'So you will do it?' Kally asked eagerly.

'She _will_ do it,' rejoined Jonathan firmly. 'She has no choice. We have picked her out, and this is a Royal order. She cannot refuse a Royal order and stay in Tortall. It's that simple.'

_Yeah, that simple. Aly stuck her chin out, pouting. 'Fine. I will do as you ask, your Majesties. For how long do I have to watch his Highness?'_

'Every day until we tell you,' replied the Queen.

_There goes my free time **and** my plans of travelling._

'As you wish,' she replied with a bow, trying hard not to grit her teeth together noticably in her frustration. 'I am guessing you want me to watch Prince William of Maren?' Aly crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping and praying but knowing it was pointless.

Kalasin looked shocked beyond belief. 'Good Gods, no!' She grinned. 'Aly, I believed you cleverer than that! For sure, I thought you would have worked it out long before now! Prince Dart of course!' She laughed her irksome inane twitter.

'Of course,' Aly echoed with a grim smile. Her fear had been confirmed.

'You- Lady Alianne Cooper of Pirate's Swoop- the Shang Tiger- daughter of Baron George Cooper of Pirate's Swoop and the King's Champion Lady Knight Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau- agree to associate with Prince Dartonian Rexam of the Copper Isles, Duke of Tintburne and son of King Yota Rexam. In doing so, you will learn about his personality and character by watching him, accompanying him, talking with him, etc and report back everything you learn to those assembled now- his Majesty King Jonathan IV of Tortall, his Queen Thayet _jian_ Wilima and their eldest daughter, Princess Kalasin Conté,' the King read off a parchment.

Aly blinked. _Whoa. 'Um, yes, I agree.'_

'Then sign here,' King Jon replied, holding out the document and a quill. Aly made a face. She hadn't thought she would be signed to some legal contract! However, she couldn't refuse now. She crossed the room and- taking a deep breath- signed her name quickly in the space.

 She watched as the three Royals signed the same document, then she was free to go and sped out of the room, her cloak billowing out behind her. 

~

Laughing, Aly and Jasson reined their horses in and dismounted. Still chuckling to herself, Aly sat down on the grass and propped her back against a tree. Jasson watched her from the corner of his very blue eye, while pretending to sort his mount out. Finally he patted his mare, and sat by Aly.

'So what did Mother and Father have to say?'

'Hmm?' Aly had been dreamily gazing at the sky and had missed her friend's question. Jasson repeated himself. 'Oh, so you heard about this morning?'

'Yeah, but only because I went looking for you. Don't worry- it's not palace gossip as yet.'

'Good,' Aly replied. 'You'll never believe what I had to sign.'

Jasson frowned. 'What?' he inquired suspiciously.

'A document to say I would keep an eye on Prince Dartonian for Kally.'

His mouth fell open. 'They asked you to be one of their associates?'

'It's a big deal?'

'You'll never escape that signature now. That's signed you to Prince Dartonian for the rest of your life.' Suddenly something seemed to hit him and he made a disgusted face. 'Prince _Dartonian_? Why not one of the others?'

Aly shrugged. 'Beats me. She tried to explain but all I really got was because Kally's already half in love with him and I'm her friend and not just anybody.'

Jasson glared at the tree. _Stupid Dartonian, he thought. __Stupid Copper Islanders. Always disrupting things, disrupting **plans**._

'You don't- you don't like him, do you?' Jasson asked hopefully, but with none of the confidence his sister had had yesterday. He hadn't noticed anything Lianne had about Aly's demeanour around the Prince; he was just hoping he didn't have a rival.

'Like him?' Aly snorted. 'Jas, me saying I don't like Prince Dartonian is the biggest understatement of the year. I can't stand the man! And I've got to spend _every day_ with him!'

'Good.' Aly frowned at him. 'I mean, good that you don't like him- well, you know, good for the Princess-'

Aly laughed. 'You thought I might have wanted Prince Dartonian for myself? And given Kally competition?' She laughed again. 'No- she can have him for all I care.'

'Good,' said Jas. _In more ways than you realise, he added to himself. _

Gazing at the sky, Aly continued, 'I don't feel like that about anyone at the moment.'

_Good again, thought Jasson. _That gives me a opportunity to get in your favour. I might have a chance with you, although it's a shame you don't already feel that way about me. Unless you're being coy and trying to play me off you...__

'What about _you?' Aly asked suddenly, her eyes sparkling with renewed enthusiasm. 'Do _you_ have anyone special in your life at the moment?'_

He looked away, fighting a rising blush. 'Well… she doesn't know it yet.'

'Well, I'm sure she'll reciprocate; she's a lucky girl to have grabbed your attention.' Aly stared off into space again and Jas decided against pushing his luck now. Instead, he gazed at her as she gazed at nothing and scrutinised every little feature of her, thinking how wonderful she was- how perfect.

'I wonder who that is,' Aly mused out loud suddenly.

Jasson jumped. 'What?'

'The horse- galloping. Can't you hear it?'

Jasson listened for a moment, his heart returning to its normal pace. 'Oh, yeah, I hear it.'

Aly grinned dreamily at him. 'You okay?'

'I'm fine,' he assured her, carefully keeping his gaze diverted. His fingers began to pull at the gold threading on his shirt collar. Aly reached for his hand and clasped his fingers lightly in her own. He looked straight into her eyes, stunned.

'You'll ruin that shirt,' she reprimanded quietly.

'Aly!' cried a voice. The pair turned and Jas slid his hand out of hers. Thom was riding up on a large gangly horse- but he wasn't doing very well at all. He also looked _very annoyed at something._

He pulled up near them and practically fell off his mount. 'The stable hand thought you had come up here.' He began to pace.

'Thom, what's wrong?' Aly asked, a frown creasing her forehead.

He stopped, sighed and ran his hands through his hair violently. 'You know you had to see the King and Queen?' Aly nodded. 'Well, a short time later, I got called before them too.' Her frown increased. 'And they asked me-' he sighed- 'they asked me to look after a mage.'

Aly looked at him, shocked. He sounded like it _pained_ him to talk about it! 'But Thom, I don't understand! I thought you mages loved to get to know each other and argue and compete!'

'That's part of the whole problem, you see,' he replied, sighing again. Resigning himself, he slumped on to the floor next to them.

'What exactly do you mean?' asked Jas.

'What is Anelise going to think when she returns and learns I've been spending every day with a young, pretty mage?'

'Ah- therein lies the problem,' Aly stated.

Jas frowned at her. 'What?'

'This mage is female.'

'Correct,' rejoined Thom.

'Thom, Anelise is Gary's daughter. Of all people, I'm sure she'll understand. She knows how these things work.'

He didn't look convinced. 'Anelise worries enough about competition from mages already. She doesn't believe she works a magic on me no mage is capable of.'

Aly smiled at her brother: sometimes he could be so romantic without even realising it. 'Did you bring this up to the King and Queen?'

He nodded. 'Yes, they more or less said they didn't care.'

Aly chewed on her lower lip, thinking. After some hesitation, she said, 'Maybe you should write to Anelise. If you're that worried about her reaction, you should try and make sure she hears from you and no one else. You can explain the situation, and your feelings.'

'Do you think that will work?' he asked hopefully.

Aly shrugged. 'It's a suggestion.'

'Thanks. I suppose I'll try that then.' Thom continued to sit on the grass, hugging his knees to his chest and gazing back at the palace. 

'You really love her, don't you Thom?' Aly asked softly.

He didn't look at her, and replied- equally as gently, 'Love is such a committing word. But yes, I do love her.'

'Then everything will work out fine,' rejoined Jasson, inappropriately cheerful. Aly and Thom gave him identical looks. 'Love is never wrong, and it never dies. It works through all evils and overcomes all challenges. You'll see, it'll all work out in the end.'

Thom gave the Prince a half-hearted lop-sided grin. 'Thanks, Jas. I hope so.' Standing up, he sighed again and brushed himself down.

'So who is this mage anyway, Thom?'

He waved an unconcerned hand in the air. 'Oh, Theo- Prince Dartonian's top mage and chief advisor. If you remember, she was there when we first met the Prince. I've agreed to work with her during my lessons with Numair.'

'Wait a minute, now back up!' Aly said, jumping to her feet. 'This mage is connected to Prince Dartonian?'

Thom frowned at the finger his sister was waggling at him. '_Yes_.'

She rounded on Jasson, still sitting under the tree. 'Don't you think this is odd? Both Thom and I have been asked to look after important people from Tortall's biggest current risk and neither of us are technically qualified to do so?'

'Aly, I think it's just a coincidence,' soothed Jas. She glared.

'Yeah, Aly dear, you're just getting worked up because you don't like mister Prince-y!' teased Thom.

'Well you're a bit happier,' she grumbled.

'You two have given me hope,' he replied dramatically. 'Now, I will leave you in peace, my dear friends!' With a flourish of his hands he strode purposefully over to his horse and mounted.

'Thom!' cried Alianne. 'Where's Anelise staying at the moment?'

'At her home- Naxen. But she'll be returning here soon.' Turning his horse, Thom waved and charged off. Yet he seemed to have forgotten his height and as he rode under a tree, knocked his head on a low-hanging branch, nearly falling off in the process.

Aly shook her head and sat back down.

'That brother of yours is a fool,' said Jasson.

'A fool with a _heart,' Aly replied; the Prince nodded in agreement. Aly had already decided what she would be doing with her spare time tonight- she would write to Anelise to back her brother up. Sometimes to have another opinion from an old, female friend was the clinch. She hoped a small note from her could help Anelise see Thom's predicament for what it truly was._

'Do you know what I've noticed about Kalasin?' said Aly suddenly.

'No, what?'

'There's hope for her yet.'

'What?' demanded Jasson, becoming both more intrigued and more confused.

'She's not... well completely reformed.'

'What in all the realms are you talking about?'

'The old Kally,' explained Alianne. 'The Kally of our childhood- she's not quite lost yet. There's hope for her. She can overcome this stereotypical Princess stage with a little help from us, I'm sure of it.'

Jas raised his eyebrows at her. 'Maybe she doesn't want to be the old Kally. Maybe that's why she changed in the first place. Anyway, what makes you think this?'

'No, I reckon it was some form of security at the shock of her dreams being rejected. And haven't you noticed? The little things she does- sometimes instead of sitting gracefully she _flops down, some of the things she says sometimes, some of the little noises or movements she makes that most people would discard as insignificant.'_

Jasson laughed. 'Aly, don't be silly. This is Kalasin we're talking about! She's the most arrogant, self-absorbed female ever! You've just been away from civilised society for so long you've forgotten the way we do things here in the Royal palace!'

Aly sucked her breath in sharply. _How dare he! She jumped to her feet, and began to storm off._

'Aly! Wait! Come on Aly, I didn't mean it like that- honestly!' He was running after her; she rounded on him.

'No? Then how did you mean it?' She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

'I just meant that- well, you know-'

'No, I _don't.'_

'You've just been hidden away _fighting for so long you've forgotten that not everything has an ulterior motive, or another hidden side! You've forgotten simplicity! You've forgotten how to have fun!'_

She continued to glare at him. 'Keep on digging, your Highness. Let's see how deep you can get yourself shall we?'

'Aly, don't get cross-'

'Oh? What else shall I do? What would be better for _you_?'

'Oh, don't be so obnoxious!' he shouted back. 'So _juvenile!_ Just let it _go_, all right? Forget it!' She turned her back on him and began to walk once more towards her mount. 'Oh, for Gods' sake, Aly! Hey, you forget who you're keeping company with!'

She had mounted now and looked back at him. Her icy eyes caught his. 'Do I?' Turning her horse, she trotted off, ignoring Jas's indignant shouts.

~

'So I hear you have been having lessons to develop your Sight?'

Aly grinned to herself. 'Not really, your Highness. My family and Master Salmalín keep trying to persuade me but so far I've only attended two theory lessons.'

Prince Dartonian nodded and nudged his horse slightly ahead. Aly rolled her eyes to herself and caught up. 

'So... your Highness,' she began. He looked at her, waiting. 'Umm... do you enjoy hunting?'

He considered the question. 'It depends,' he replied finally, 'on exactly what hunting you were referring to. My homeland is a place of pleasure and enjoyment, but I'm also well skilled at hunting out the enemy.' He gave her a significant look and rode on.

Alianne sighed. _Great. __This was going just great. Every time she asked him a question he evaded answering her. How could she get to know him? An idea striking her, she hurried to ride by his side once more._

'Your Highness, you said your home was a place of pleasure. What exactly do you mean? I am interested in travelling; please tell me about the Copper Isles.'

He gave her a glance of total arrogance, and then looked away- almost pretending she wasn't there. 'I live in luxury at home. Our people are happy. We celebrate the smallest thing and have parades regularly. We enjoy rich foods and vivid colours. We like variation but tradition. Yes, the Copper Islanders have many traditions.'

'So I imagine we seem quite different here, even harsh?'

'Different, yes. But then, everyone is unique.'

_Oooh, thought Aly. _A bit of a thinker is our Prince. __

'But it's very odd not to have slaves everywhere,' he added. Aly jutted her chin out. _Okay, he just undid his good work. So even though he might view everyone as individuals, he doesn't see them as equals. Joy._

'You are a good rider, your Highness,' she observed.

He raised an eyebrow in her direction. 'I am a Prince and a trained warrior.'

'Oh yes, Princess Kalasin mentioned to me that you are qualified both on land and at sea.'

'Yes.'

'A general, if I remember correctly,' she tried again.

'A General of the Isles' Navy and a _guarir_.' [pronounced something like _gwah-ihr_]

Aly frowned from genuine puzzlement. 'What is a _guarir_, your Highness, if you don't mind me asking?'

'It is like our equivalent of your knights, only they are a great deal more advanced and restricted. Enough of this questioning now, Tiger.' With that, she let him ride ahead with his guards. So he was quite liberal when talking about his skills, she noticed. But he wasn't very discreet about his snide remarks of Tortall- the lack of slaves, the lack of pure indulgence, the lesser quality of their warriors. Gods help her, how would she ever put up with him!

~

With a sigh of relief, Alianne slipped out into the night. Why did it seem like she had spent near enough every evening of her visit cooped up in a ballroom? Oh yeah, because she _had. _

She crept through the gardens and made her way to the wall. She would go down into Corus for a little while and regain her sanity. Tonight, try as she might, she couldn't find anything out from Prince Dartonian. Following him around and pestering him, she suddenly realised that everyone else in the room must believe she was infatuated with him! Since she was getting no information from him, she quit for that night. 

It was then that she noticed she had been followed herself. She didn't know who the young man was but he wouldn't leave her alone. After dancing four consecutive dances with him, having got him to fetch her five separate drinks and trying to ignore him, she finally managed to give him the slip. She realised how annoying she must be to Prince Dartonian.

And so, at her first chance she escaped into the cool freshness of the night. That typical suffocating feeling had been beginning to set in too, and she couldn't deal with that.

Aly slipped silently through the gates, revelling in the purity and calmness of the dark night. A week now she had been shadowing the Prince. At first she had been irritated beyond belief. Her life, her freedom, her liberty had been taken from her. But who was she to complain? She had been the one to sign the document... And so she had soon resigned herself to her situation. She generally tried not to dwell on her actions of the past anyway, and just get on with the present. Her resignation was helped along by the fact that Prince Dartonian intrigued her. She disliked him passionately, yet he was such an interesting character that she sometimes spent more time with him than necessary. But by the end of each day, she was very fed up. 

Tonight, she decided she would just walk through the streets for a while, and then return home. She found the commoners of Tortall very natural people- they were not prejudiced or influenced by politics, wealth or beauty like nobles. They experienced love far more often than their betters and often had wealth all the nobles' riches could never gain. 

The streets were dark, lit only by flickering torches hanging in brackets against the sides of buildings. Their flames reflected off the summer's puddles amongst the cobbles like liquid fire. Tonight, clouds- forecasting a potential late summer storm- smothered most of the stars.

Working her way further towards the heart of the city, Aly came across the usual tramps, thieves, prostitutes and such hanging in the dark corners. Some just watched her; some leered or lunged for her, but all sensed she wasn't to be messed with and essentially left her alone. She liked it that way.  

Aly passed many inns and taverns as she walked. All were lit brightly, yet by the time the light came through the dirty windows it did little to disturb the murky darkness surrounding them. Noise filtered easily through the windows, doors and cracks, spilling effortlessly onto the streets. Noise of enjoyment, noise of entertainment, noise of brawls, of singing, of laughter. Aly smiled, and moved on.

She wandered the streets for an unknown length of time, sometimes dawdling, sometimes with a bounce in her step. At one point, she hummed a merry little ditty to herself. 

After a while, she realised her stomach was clamouring for food. She didn't hesitate for long before entering a tavern. It was smoky inside, and loud. The lives of the common folk reverberated between the walls and tables. For a single moment, Aly forgot the last eight years and remembered only her birthright. She shouldn't be here. And for that single moment, she felt intimidated. What if they didn't take kindly to nobles here?

But the moment passed her, as moments are want to do and she came to her senses. What was wrong with her? She wasn't usually so weak and fanciful! She was not a noble; she was a noble's daughter. There was a difference. She was the Shang Tiger. 

Aly made her way towards the bar. Surprisingly it was less crowded here; most people had seated in groups around tables. Aly was glad: she hated crowds. Slipping onto a stool, she waited to catch the bartender's attention. He soon noticed his new attendant, and rushed to her side.

'How may I help ye, lass?'

'I'll have a pint of your best ale and... a sandwich, please,' she replied firmly.

'Aye lass,' he answered, eyeing her warily as he wiped a tankard with the rag thrown over his shoulder. 'What kind of sandwich was ye looking for? Me wife does a large selection- the best in all town, I swear! Cheese, ham-'

'Cheese,' Aly interrupted smoothly. 

He stopped, his mouth wide open. He tried to size her up, but she was sitting down and wearing a large cloak.

'Are you hoping to catch fish, Master Gaper? If so-'

'Aye, that'll be enough lass,' he cut in. 'Can't be doing with your noble's crap in here. Shut up or get out.'

She shrugged. 'I ain't a noble. Now, where's that sandwich?'

The bartender grunted and ambled off. Aly shook her head. So much for nothing! She drummed her fingers lightly atop the worn surface of the bar, tapping in time to a light, jilting tune played somewhere in the background of the taproom. She watched, disinterested but bored, as a prostitute greeted a portly, middle-aged man sitting a few paces down the bar. He couldn't seem to believe his luck, and Aly shook her head in pity of both of them. 

A roar of laughter and rowdy cheering from the other side of the room made her snap her head around. A large group of men were enjoying a gambling card game and it seemed that the most unlikely man had just won. He stood up, but his back was to Aly, and his supporters- and the surrounding women- soon smothered him.

The clatter of an old pewter plate against wood reached Aly through the other dim: the bartender had returned with her sandwich. He plopped the tankard down too, and the drink slopped over the side, narrowly missing her food. 

He held out a fat, greasy hand for the exchange of coins and grudgingly she handed money over. She wasn't impressed by his attitude, and the food didn't look all that appetising. He counted the coins and slumped off to bring her change.

Dubiously, she picked up the sandwich and bit into it. She was surprised- it was good! She tucked in greedily as the bartender began his steady amble back to her.

A young man a few years older than Aly collapsed onto the stool next to her. She glanced at him quickly, realising he was the man who had just won the card game. 

'Hey, Mitch! Bring us some ale, would ya?' yelled the man. Aly looked over at him in shock, recognising his voice, if not the light false common accent.

'_Finn?'_

He turned to her, and smiled when he saw her face. 'Aly! What a nice surprise!'

'What are you doing here?'

'Me?' he replied with a smirk. 'I think the question is more what are _you_ doing down here, miss?'

Aly glared at him. 'I'm eighteen now, and Shang. I do what I like.'

'And I'm twenty-three and a knight of the realm. I do what _I_ like.' He chuckled and then his chuckles babbled into laughter. 'Listen to us! Like a pair of kids!'

Aly smiled at Sir Gary of Naxen's son. 'Trust _you_ Finn. You always had a happy nature. You're too used to pleasure for your own good!'

He clapped her on her shoulder. 'Maybe, Aly, maybe. But we all have secrets; all have dark parts to our pasts.' Before she could reply, he continued, 'Ah, I see you've tried one of the lady's sandwiches. Great, aren't they? Not much to look at, I'll grant you that, but plenty of taste.'

Aly looked at the remains of the sandwich, then back at the knight. 'Yeah,' she agreed solemnly, her thoughts elsewhere. What could be Finn's secret? What did she know about his past? Not much. 

The landlord- Mitch, Finn had called him- banged a massive jug of ale before Finn. 'That's your lot for the night, Mister,' he commented.

Aly raised an eyebrow. 'Have you been drinking a lot, Finn?'

'Nah,' he grinned. 'I can handle my drink.'

'So can I but I know where to stop too.'

'Look, I'll have one last drink and then I'll go home,' he replied, finishing with an unexpected hiccup.

Aly laughed. 'Why don't you come with me in a minute? Just as soon as I've finished _my drink.'_

He grinned a broad smile, somewhat similar to Thom. 'Sure,' he said, and poured his own ale. 

A short while later, Aly and Finn left the tavern, laughing over an old joke. They walked through the dark streets together, towards the palace. Sometimes Finn would stumble, he would laugh at himself, and Aly would chuckle and shake her head at his folly. 

The streets didn't seem any lighter than when Aly had set off from the ballroom. The shadows still played thick in the corners, yet the streets and alleys seemed emptier than before. 

'Did you know,' began Finn.

'Did I know what?' questioned Aly when he didn't continue. She glanced behind her, having a slight whispering feeling there was someone behind them. She saw nothing.

'Did you know,' Finn started again. 'Did you know that Anelise comes here soon?'

'That was a bit random, Finn. Well, I gathered it must be nearly time for her to return but I hadn't heard. I wrote to her a little while ago but I didn't get a reply.'

'Nah, Anelise doesn't like writing letters.'

'Fair enough,' Aly said, jumping forward to steady him as he tripped. _She could have written **something**_** _though. It has been eight years!_ she thought. 'Exactly how much did you drink?'**

'Never you mind. It's not the drink, it's the cold air.'

'Of course.' She slung his arm over her shoulders, and they carried on down the street.

Suddenly the hairs down her neck stood up on end and she took his arm away, looking behind her. That sensation had returned. She was so sure someone was following them! But there was no movement. Aly frowned into the darkness.

'Aly?' asked Finn. 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing,' she said quietly. 'Nothing's wrong. C'mon, let's get back to the palace.' She went to take his arm but he protested.

'I don't need your help. I'm fine by myself. See?' He stumbled along by himself, and Aly let him. She kept glancing over her shoulder, the feeling remaining in her stomach that they weren't alone.

'Aly something's up,' Finn stated. 'Tell me.'

'I just think we're being followed, that's all.'

Finn shrugged. 'So what if we are? It's them that's got to look out- you're Shang, I'm a knight: we'll kick their butts.'

Aly roared with laughter. 'Where in _all the realms_ did that come from?'

Finn grinned. 'I dunno. Come on.'

He began to trudge up the hill. Aly paused, looking back again. She could have sworn the shadows just moved. There seemed to be a darker, thicker shadow amongst the others…

Now she was just being silly. Aly shook her head and turned around. Her eyes fell immediately on Finn but from the back, for a moment she got a flash of someone else. Then the image went.

'Gods Finn, you just reminded me of someone,' she said, catching him up.

'And? What's so odd about that?'

'Well, it was the last person I ever would have compared you with.'

'Oh?' 

'Yeah, but when I think about it the two of you actually are quite similar to look at.'

'Who, dammit?'

'Prince Dartonian,' Aly mused.

Finn's jaw became hard set and he gripped her shoulder tightly, forcing her to look him straight in the eye. 'Don't ever insult me like that again, Aly,' he forced quietly. Aly was taken aback. 'And anyway,' he continued in his usual cheerful tone, freeing her once more. 'How can we look similar? He has dark hair- I have blond; I have brown eyes, he has- well, I don't know what colour his eyes are.'

'Blue-green.'

'Exactly- nothing like mine!' Then Finn paused. 'How do you know what colour his eyes are?'

'I have both Lianne and Kalasin yammering it down my ears all the time, plus I have to spend every day with him.'

'Oh, lucky you.'

'Yes, lucky me,' she replied quietly. Even so, should she be able to reel off details of his features so quickly and so sure of herself? Hah, it was only eye colour for God's sake!

They had come to the palace wall.

'Well, thanks Aly. Nice to see you again,' Finn said.

'What are you thanking me for?'

He shrugged. 'I don't rightly know.'

'Mithros, you're as bad as Thom.'

He grinned. 'Then we shall get on well as brothers.'

Aly raised her eyebrows. 'Is that a hint? Is there talk of marriage already?'

'Maybe. You have been gone a while, Alianne. You've missed a lot. I'm going round to the east gates; see you tomorrow.'

'Bye, Finn.' He waved as he disappeared around the corner.

Aly opened the small gate before her and stepped through. Just before shutting it again, she gazed back into the night. Again, she was sure a darker shadow moved. She watched until her eyes hurt from straining but there was no other movement. As she moved to shut the gate, she was certain two little pinpoints of light- almost like cat's eyes- glinted momentarily at her. 

Aly shivered and shut the gate, deciding however good the sandwich had tasted, the cheese had most definitely been past its best.

~

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

_~Fyre Thief._


End file.
